Visions of Light
by silvennia
Summary: Just who is the mysterious 'Master' that's behind all of Alyssa Quayshua's miserable past? And what doe the sage, Shenzein Zephyrthros, have got to do with it? Read on and you'll eventually find out...
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Memories Of The Past**

"_Hooray! I'm about to be a novice soon!"_

_Cries of happiness filled the air as a young raven-haired girl jumped about in excitement. She had just turned thirteen two days back, and according to the Midgard rule she will be enrolled for the novice exams along with the others. It was a special day for her, for like many other villagers, she will be sitting for an exam that would determine her course of life for the King._

"_Yeah, Alyssa. You're about to be a novice soon. Hopefully, you'll pass without any failures beforehand, eh?" her sister, Constance Eradia, teased her little sister as she watched her dancing about with joy. Alyssa looked at her sister and stuck out her tongue at her. Chuckling, Constance pretended to wrestle with her before giving her a bear hug._

"_Well, girl. You're about to be a novice soon. Any plans on what career you wish to choose soon after?" she asked. Constance was a fully qualified huntress and was part of the Pronteran army that serves to protect the capital city of Rune Midgard. Alyssa thought for a moment. She brightened and said cheerfully, "I want to be a merchant!"_

_Constance looked at her sister carefully, quite surprised at her choice. Alyssa had never shown any interest in finances, let alone the current updates in the business world. So what made her choose to become a merchant? "Why a merchant, Lyss? I thought you hated calculations and the whatnot of the business," she asked curiously. _

"_Well, I used to hate 'em, but after Uncle Dominic's visit, I guess I've changed my mind about it. Anyway, it'll be fun being a merchant, I think."_

_The huntress laughed at her sister's doubts. Uncle Dominic was a childhood friend of their father, who was also coincidentally a blacksmith as well. His products were well known throughout the city for their liability and perfection. It looks like the little chat Alyssa had with him last week was about her future. Not that Constance minded, she did not care what her sister wants to be, as long as she's happy._

_Alyssa looked at the time and exclaimed, "Oh, my goodness! I'm gonna be late for the lessons if I don't hurry! Well, sis, wish me luck! Bye!" She rushed out from her house before Constance could say anything and headed immediately towards the Novice Training Grounds. The blonde huntress merely looked at the clouds of dust and chuckled to herself._

* * *

"_All right, you young ones! Listen up! I'm going to go through this only once so don't ask any stupid questions that will only wasted both of our time!" a bearded figure said irately as he surveyed his batch of would-be novices. Leon Von Frisch was well known for his short temperedness towards slow learners. The better learner you are, the better reception you will get._

_Alyssa settled herself somewhere in the middle of the crowd and began to listen to his speech. Sitting next to her, a silver-haired boy with an extremely bored look etched on his face did not even bother to follow Von Frisch's speech. Instead, he entertained himself by flipping a zeny coin between his fingers. Alyssa soon became irritated with the boy's behavior._

"_Oi, stop that! You're making me lose concentration of what Mr. Leon is saying," she hissed from the corner of her mouth. Surprised, the boy looked at her and shrugged. "Whatever," he said gloomily. He kept the coin away though. Suppressing her annoyance, Alyssa decided to ignore him and continued concentrating on Leon Von Frisch's speech._

* * *

_Alyssa sank onto the ground wearily. Her hand was aching from stabbing the stray fabres that roamed the training grounds. It was okay at first, but as time passed by she realized that the fabres were rather aggressive and would not leave her alone if they spotted her. _

_She had passed the first written test on her first try and was now currently undertaking her second test. Her examiner told her to kill about twenty fabres in the training grounds before exiting the place. She was given a simple knife, which allows her to kill the green worm-like creatures according to her strength. So far she had managed to kill about five fabres before she tired out. _

"_Oh, no," she groaned as she spotted a few fabres heading towards her way. Quickly she estimated the distance between her and the slow-moving fabres. For something moving slow, it sure lessens the distance between it and its victim pretty fast. Picking up her weapon, she stood up and braced herself for the attack._

"_Hey, stop picking on that girl! Come and get me instead!"_

_Surprised, Alyssa whirled around to see who that was and her surprise faded as annoyance took place. It was that annoying silver-haired boy again. Was he following her or something? The equally surprised fabres looked confusedly between the female and the male trainees. They couldn't decide which one should the attack. Finally, several of them went towards the boy. The silver-haired boy ignored Alyssa and charged forward, slaying the fabres easily. He then approached the remaining fabres and killed them off with ease. Alyssa scowled. "Show off," she muttered, sitting down once more to regain her strength._

_The boy came up to her and looked at her concernedly. "Are you alright?" he asked, sitting down beside her. He groped about around him and produced two red apples with flourish. He offered one to her as he wolfed down his. Alyssa took the apple, touched by his thoughtfulness. Not many people would have done that for her. She supposed he was trying to get into her good books or something._

"_Thanks. I thought I was a goner back then," she said, nibbling on her piece of apple. The silver-haired trainee waved his hand airily. "No problem. Say, weren't you the one sitting beside me during Mr. Leon's class? So sorry to irritate you back then. I'm always bored when it comes to speeches," he apologized concritely. Alyssa's annoyance melted as she looked at him, realizing that he was indeed sorry._

"_Nah, don't worry. I basically know it by heart already, courtesy of my big sister's lectures."_

_He chuckled. "Yeah, same here. My bro won't stop bugging me about passing the test. It's a drag actually. Especially when he's in the army and expects the best from me."_

"_Hey, my sister's in the army too! She's the head of the Huntress Division. But she doesn't pressure me much about this, thank goodness!"_

"_Lucky you. My brother's all about excelling. He's a knight from the Defense Army. I'm Shein by the way, Sheinzen Zephyrthros. And you are…"_

"_Name's Alyssa Quayshua. Just call me Lyss or Alyssa."_

"_Well, Lyss or Alyssa, shall we begin training again? I can't wait to get outta here."_

"_You're on!"_

* * *

"_Where in two worlds is that dratted guy anyway? He's supposed to be here ages ago!" Alyssa muttered to herself as she checked the time for the umpteenth time._

"_Yo, Lyss! Sorry I was late. My 'caring' brother gave me yet another lecture again before I left house," hailed Shein, panting as he drew closer. Scowling at him, Alyssa stuck her tongue out before retorting, "Serves you right! You're always late!"_

_Shein gasped out an apology as he panted for oxygen. Sighing, Alyssa opened her bag and handed him a bottle of red potion. "Thanks," he said gratefully, gulping down the liquid in two swallows. He quickly regained his energy and wiped his mouth with his sleeve._

"_So, shall we start training again?" _

_Both Alyssa and Sheinzen had just recently passed their job exams. Alyssa was finally a qualified merchant and Sheinzen decided to be a magician, rebelling his brother's wishes to become a knight, just like him._

"_Right. Let me get some potions first before we leave."_

_Nodding his head, he followed the raven-haired merchant into the nearest potion shop. Alyssa dealt with her goods efficiently and wasted little time in haggling at the prices of the potions. As they left the stall, Alyssa suddenly noticed that her friend was fidgeting somewhat nervously by her side. Odd, she thought, she rarely see Shenzein this agitated. _

"_Uh, Lyss? I have something to tell you," ventured Sheinzen hesitantly. Alyssa looked at him with a mixture of surprise and expentance._

"_What?"_

"_I hate to say this, but I need to carry on solo in order to train myself in becoming a sage. I'm so sorry, but I don't think I can continue training with you anymore."_

_Alyssa looked at him with mixed feelings. Somehow she knew this would happen. Magicians were well known with their lone journeys and odd quests to fulfill. Sighing, Alyssa nodded and replied, "It's okay Shien, I understand. Who knows, we might meet again someday." She looked at his miserable face and rummaged her bag for something. Shenzein looked at her antics quietly, still feeling guilty for leaving her just like that. But he needed to do something before she gets hurt, and he needed to grow stronger. The only way he could foresee himself doing so is by journeying alone._

"_Here, keep this. Give it back to me the next time you meet me, okay? So you better keep it safe of else I'll bang your head with my axe if I meet you," she threatened playfully, handing him a silver charm necklace. He took the necklace from her, relieved that she took it quite well. Suddenly, Shein hugged her tightly and murmured, "I won't forget you, Alyssa Quayshua." With that, he bid her farewell and left the city alone._


	2. Arrows and Magic

**Chapter 1: Arrows and Magic**

"Drat that good-for-nothing priest! Isn't he supposed to be here helping me?" grumbled Alyssa as she fended off yet another growling bigfoot by herself. Her energy was depleting quicker than it is regenerating; and the amount of dark brown grizzlies were mounting fast. She looked around desperately. _Ain't there anyone here that can help me?_ She wondered as she slashed one of the advancing bigfoot. The monster howled in pain and aimed an attack at her chest with his huge, furry paw.

"Oof!" Alyssa grunted as she stumbled onto the ground, temporarily winded by its attack. She looked up and saw that even more bigfoots were advancing towards her.' "Won't these damn beasts ever stop coming?" she muttered as she gripped her axe tightly. Summoning all of her strength, she blasted off a few monsters back with the help of the golden strength of her money. She harrumphed as the surprised bigfoots were thrown backwards by her strength. Quickly, she scanned her big, leather bag for any remaining butterfly wings. The sooner she can escape, the better.

Alyssa groaned aloud. Luck is definitely not with her because her bag lacked of butterfly wings, wings of fly and even potions to heal her! "Hmph! Guess I'd better make a run for it. Now if only I can find that potion…" she muttered as she frantically rummaged her bad for an agility potion to increase her slow pace. Triumphantly, she produced one at last and gulped down the potions before the bears regained their senses and tried to advance closer towards her. She felt the clear liquid running through her veins and her body felt lighter in a matter of seconds. Grinning broadly, she picked up her axe and flung it onto her cart before racing off in between two astonished bigfoots. The bears growled and howled in unison as they realized that their prey was escaping. Alyssa quickly avoided multitude blows dealt by the enraged bigfoots as she weaved in and out around them towards the nearest exit.

"Hmm, by the looks of it, I'll be in Payon soon. Awesome!" she exulted, as she ducked yet another heavy blow aimed at her head. "Hmm, I think I'd better restock on pots again before training. Next time I hire a darn priest, I'd better make sure he stick to his job!" she muttered to herself as she reached the city entrance. She took a deep breath, inhaling the evergreen aroma of the payonese city. She couldn't figure out why, but she loved Payon city even more than she loved her own hometown, Prontera. It was something about the evergreen grounds and the sense of tranquility blanketing the city that struck her as, well, homey.

The raven hair merchant contented herself by walking along the streets leisurely, watching as other merchants compete in their goods and bargains. Payon streets were always busy, if not as busy as the streets of Prontera. Groups of novices could be seen moving from one merchant to the other, hoping to purchase fairly cheap potions to help them in their training. Archers, on the other hand, would stop by to replenish their arrows before taking a snooze under a tree. Even the staid priests and priestess could be seen lazing about in groups of twos and threes as they were rained by numerous pleas of healings from others. Alyssa snickered quietly as she passed by them, noting that the pleas were mostly ignored out of goodwill. After all, what good would it do if those who beg gets what they want always?

Alyssa stopped by a few merchants as she haggled over the price of orange potions, butterfly wings, and other necessities. When she was satisfied with the results, she dumped the goods into her cart and trundled along towards the Payon Inn. She needed some rest…

* * *

Earilith Sensedriell glanced behind her uneasily. She can't seem to shake the spooky feeling that she was being followed. Quickening her pace, she carried on her way home, her heart beating fast. Now and then, she jumped as she heard a twig cracking or a shadow looming amongst the trees. It's just a bird, it's just a bird, she assured herself silently as she walked heading towards the nearest city. Suddenly, she heard a growl and jumped in horror. In front of her stood a huge, green-faced monster. It was an orc, no doubt about it. Its muscles bulged as it tightened its grip on the axe, as though preparing to hack whatever was in its way. Earilith stood there, transfixed in shock and horror. She couldn't even move a muscle for all that she was worth. It was as if someone had dumped a barrel of glue under her feet...

"Watch out!"

Another surprise. Earilith managed to break free from her horrified trance and whirled around towards the speaker. She saw a mage running towards her, yelling for her to get away. Spurred by his words, she finally managed to unglue herself and dashed away, hiding behind the trees. Surprised by the shout, the orc looked stupidly between the fleeing girl and the mage. Its slow mind began to realize that its victim was escaping and gave a loud growl. It decided to attack the mage instead and charged heavily towards that direction.. The silver-haired mage stood his ground and muttered something, his hands crackling with energy. As quick as thought, he flung a few balls of fire towards the blundering orc before preparing another spell. The orc roared in pain as the fireballs dealt it with more than one burns on its body. Picking up its axe, the orc made its way again towards the mage, only to stop with surprise and then turned around. The mage had cast a few bolts of ice towards the orc. Noticing that those shards of ice were sharp, sparkling under the sun, the orc took flight and howled in horror as the bolts followed it halfway.

The silver-haired mage smiled satisfied. Picking up his wand that he had accidentally dropped during spellcasts, he looked around for the girl that he had saved. "You can come out now," he called out, looking about. Earilith stepped out from her hiding, staring at her savior. He smiled at her and asked, "You okay?" She just nodded her head as she continued to stare at him speechlessly. The mage's smile wavered slightly at her continuous stare and asked, somewhat aggressively, "What are you staring at?"

Earilith shook her head, blushing before replying, "Oh, sorry! I'm just…wow! You're a great mage! The greatest I've seen so far!"

The mage looked pleased. "Thanks," came the simple reply.

"I'm Earilith Sensedriell, an archer from Payon. And you are…?"

"Name's Shenzein Zephyrthros. Shein for short. Nice to meet you Earilith."

The archer smiled in return. She told Shenzein that she was on her way to Payon city before the orc attacked her. Like a gallant gentleman, the mage offered to accompany her to the city, in case there were more errant orcs around. Eyes brightening, Earilith accepted his offer gratefully. She hadn't anyone to accompany her before anyway.

Halfway towards their destination, Earilith asked curiously, "So what are you doing around the forests of Payon anyway? I thought mages find the grasslands in Geffen more effective in spellcasting trainings."

"Not this mage. I'm more interested in knowing my strengths with other types of monsters apart from the one living outside the borders of the city of magic. How else could you see a mage single handedly defeat an orc all by himself?" came the sardonic reply.

Earilith looked at him before turning away quickly. "I see…" she murmured.

They soon reached the gates of Payon city, much to the archer's surprise. She didn't expect it to be so quick. She stole a look at the mage, and said slowly, "Shein, do you want to come in and have a drink with me at the inn? I'm sure you're also pretty exhausted as well after your spellcasting."

Shenzein shook his head. "Sorry, I can't. I need to rush somewhere at the moment. Well, I'm glad that you've reached where you wanted to be. Perhaps the winds of fate will bring us back together again one day, though. So long, Earilith Sensedriell."

He waved goodbye as he retraced back his steps towards the forest. Earilith stared at him in wonder. He was so mysterious. Not to mention handsome too. Earilith reddened at that thought as she headed towards the Payon inn. No more daydreams, Earilith. You need to concentrate on your own training! She scolded herself silently, as she walked towards her room. First, she needed to close her eyes…


	3. Dead City

**Chapter 2: Dead City**

"Congratulations, Alyssa Quayshua. You are now officially an alchemist. With this I present you your very own alchemist's clothes as well as a few booklets for you to study about potion making. Remember, never forget the rules and teachings of a true potion maker," droned a voice.

Alyssa looked up and curtsied to the teacher, murmuring, "Thank you, _sensei_. I will never forget your teachings." She took the brand new clothes and went to a changing room. _I'm finally an alchemist! Yes!_ She exulted as she donned on her alchemist's clothes. She thought back on her grim determination during training and smiled. It was all worth it. She supposed she could have been the youngest alchemist there ever was in Rune Midgard to graduate. No one has ever completed their training in only eight years time; most of them took ten years or so to actually understand their training, let alone strengthening their skills and prowess.

She left the Alchemist Academy, an aura of confidence surrounding her. _Now let's see, the first thing I would like to do is…visit Constance! Yeah, I must tell her about this. She's gonna be so proud!_ Alyssa thought as she headed towards the city's entrance. Then she stopped. "Hmm, Prontera's a bit too far from here. Perhaps I should just use the Kapra's travel portal instead," she mused as she spied a lovely maiden nearby. Kapra is an agency built in order to provide useful services for others such as storage service as well as travel portals. Although their headquarters are in Alberta, receptionists are placed in every city for public services. These receptionists consist of fair maidens dressed in brown, with an eggshell-white, lacy apron tied in front. Their headgears are simple, flowery bands that are worn proudly on their heads.

"Welcome to Kapra, my name is Sui Sui. How may I help you today, miss?" the receptionist asked politely. Alyssa smiled at her, replying, "I wish to head towards Prontera City, please."

"That would be 2,000 zennies, please."

Alyssa counted her zennies and handed it to her. The receptionist counted them and smiled, "Thank you for using Kapra's service. Have a nice day!" And with that, she waved her hand, teleporting the raven-haired alchemist to Prontera City.

Alyssa felt light-headed as she was being teleported. She arrived the city with a bump, right onto the ground. "Ouch, that was definitely _not_ a good landing," she grumbled, rubbing her sore behind as she stood up. She looked around curiously. The place was peaceful. _Too_ peaceful. What happened to the noisy, rowdy merchants that used to fill the streets of Prontera? And where were the hustle and bustle and the sideshow entertainments everywhere? From being the busiest city in Rune Midgard, Prontera is now like a dead city.

Still puzzled, Alyssa began to walk towards her home, hoping that her sister would quench her curiosity. As she was walking there, she noticed that the houses and streets were badly maintained. Window shingles hung lopsidedly and scraps to litter danced about in the wind on the streets. "What happened to this place?" she muttered, quickening her steps. She stopped at last in front of her own house, stunned at the state of the house. The once whitewashed walls were now stained with something black and red. The emerald-green door was cracked in many places, and the windowpanes were smashed, its shingles awry.

"Constance, Constance!" she cried, hammering on the worn-out door. She peered through the broken windows, and was horrified to see everything inside was in topsy-turvy. It looks like a fight had broken loose in the house. Alyssa took out her axe and broke the door, rampaging inside impatiently. She looked in horror at the mess. Quickly, she left her cart by the door and started checking in each room, calling out her sister's name. She discovered that each room was as messy as the next, and her room was the worst. Reality sank in eventually. Constance wasn't there. Alyssa sank onto a dilapidated bed in shock. "Constance, where are you, sis? What happened here?" she murmured, as a single tear rolled down on her cheeks. She stared blindly around and realized that she was in her sister's room.

Suddenly a piece of paper floated by, its flaps danced about as the wind blew through the cracks. "Hello, what's that?" she exclaimed in surprise as she raised her hand to catch the dancing paper. She scanned it quickly, her expression changing. "Oh, Constance, if only you'd tell me…" Alyssa whispered, hugging the piece of paper close. She stood up, wiping her tears and left the room. She went to her _own_ room and lifted the wood planks of the floor carefully. Nestled cozily in the hole was a small package in silk cloths. She took it out and kept it safely in her pocket. "I promise I will avenge you, Constance. Yet I hope you're still alive, somewhere, somehow," she whispered fiercely.

Without another word, she grabbed her cart and left her house, never looking back.

* * *

"Alright! Another perfect shot!" Earilith exulted as her arrow found its target. Squealing in pain, the farmiliar dropped dead onto the floor, the arrow embedded at its heart. Grinning, she picked up a broken tooth belonging to the dead bat and pocketed it. _Hmm, I could sell it for something_, she thought happily.

She suddenly heard a loud moan behind her. No, make that a weird, distorted groan. Plus, there was a horrible stench wafting towards her. The archer wrinkled her nose. "Phew!" she muttered, drawing up her bow. She saw that it was a zombie making all that noise. Focusing on the rotten, purplish undead, she aimed two silver arrows directly at its chest. "Bingo!" she exclaimed as the undead crashed clumsily onto the ground. _This is definitely a good place for me to train, if I could just forget about that stinking smell,_ she thought amusedly.

"Hey, stop that! Help! Help!"

Distracted by the cried, Earilith shot blindly towards the wall. "Drat! Now what could that be?" she muttered angrily, dashing to the cries. She stopped in surprise. It was thief, being mugged by an…acolyte? "Oy, what's going on here?" she called out strongly, hurrying to the both of them. She could see that they were still fledglings, newly acquainted in their jobs. The two froze on their spots, the healer paled in fright.

Earilith placed her hands on her hips and looked questioningly from one terrified kid to the other. "Well? Cat got your tongue? What's the matter?" she queried sternly. The two teenagers looked at each other uneasily. Finally, the acolyte spoke up, "I'm so sorry, miss. Nothing's wrong, honest. We were just fooling around, Anexia and I." The thief nodded her head vigorously. The archer looked suspiciously from one kid to the other. "Hmm, if you say so… But next time, try to keep the panic out okay? You might cause havoc," she admonished, wagging her finger.

Sheepishly, Anexia nodded and glared at her friend. The acolyte paid no attention to her and instead, stared at something behind Earilith. Swallowing a few times, he asked tentatively, "Err, miss? There's something behind you…" He pointed at something behind her with shaking fingers. Startled, Earilith swung backwards only to receive the full blast of a rotting stench. "Ack! That stinks!" she exclaimed, her hands automatically preparing for an attack. But before she could do anything, she felt something connecting with her face, preferably her cheek. She cried out in pain as she fell backwards. She heard the acolyte move quickly from behind her, muttering something unintelligible.

Earilith felt something coursing through her veins, like energy flowing ceaselessly, caressing her into action. She smiled at the acolyte gratefully and grabbed her arbalest lying beside her. Aiming perfectly, she shot two silver arrows straight into the rotten corpse. Behind her, Anexia dashed forward and began attacking the zombie at breakneck speed. Howling in defeat, the zombie crashed onto the ground, bits of its rotten flesh flying everywhere.

"Eew," the thief wrinkled her nose in disgust as she avoided the carcass. Her friend laughed at her. "What do you expect, the zombie bursting into flowers?" he teased her. She stuck her tongue at him and turned around to face Earilith. She bowed and said, "Thank you, miss, for helping us just now. Astrexil is such a coward that it's hard to train by ourselves at times."

Astrexil protested, "Hey, stop picking on me!" The archer laughed and nodded her head, "Don't worry, you'll get the hang on it eventually." She suddenly got an inspiration. "Hey, how about I help you in your training? It's more fun that way anyway," she added, smiling at the two of them. Anexia and Astrexil beamed, their faces brightening. "That would be great!" the thief exclaimed happily.

Grinning, Earilith introduced herself, "Name's Earilith Sensedriell. Just call me Lith." Anexia smiled and said, "I'm Anexia Kristos and this is my brother, Astrexil Kristos. Nice to meet you, Lith." Her brother added his own greetings enthusiastically.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's train! Oh and by the way, I think the best way for an acolyte to train would be healing party members and killing undeads. So my guess would be that you supporting us, unless you're training to be a monk…?"

Astrexil laughed and said, "No problem. I'm training to be a priest anyway. I'm not fit to be a fighter, just a healer."

"Haha, okay then. Let's go kick some rotten zombies!"


	4. Reunion

_A/N: Thanks Tom. I'm glad that you find this story is intriguing. Seriously, I'm not exactly sure where it might end up with, but hopefully it wouldn't be so much of a drag! Hehehe… Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this update! Please review…I feel like no one likes my stories at all TT_

**Chapter 3: Reunion**

"My plan is finally on its move. Very well done my servant, you shall be rewarded handsomely."

A deep, hoarse voice spoke out harshly before emitting a short bark of laughter. Its blood red eyes gleaming as it stared into the crystal orb in front of it. Slowly, the dark, mysterious creature twisted its mouth into a sinister smile as it waved its bony hand to the darkened figure behind.

"Thank you, master…"

"Remember, never speak a word about this to anyone. Do as you are told and nobody shall be hurt."

"Yes master. I shall do as you ask."

"Very well, you may leave. Scout the city of Prontera for rebels and report to me as soon as possible. Any whiff of threat, leave the city immediately. I do not wish to expose myself, not yet at least."

The servant bowed once more and took his leave. Alone, the cloaked creature gazed at the fog-filled crystal orb and observed the shadowy figures moving in it.

"Alyssa Quayshua, you shall never escape and you know that. The Light will soon be mine, and no one's going to stop me. Not even your pathetic sister that calls herself a huntress could harm me now," it whispered manically, followed by a loud burst of hysterical laughter. The sound echoed horrifically in the dark cave.

Just as sudden as its burst of laughter, it stopped. Growling softly, the sinister creature stared at the orb, unable to believe the sight. "No, this cannot be! He should be dead, not alive! No, no! He shall perish again, I'll see to that. He shall not disturb my plans anymore!"

With that, it snapped its bony fingers and muttered something. A purple fog began to form in front of him, outlining a shape that looked like a mutated horse. Gradually, the fog faded off and an outburst of eerie neighing filled the air. The undead creature smiled in satisfaction and whispered softly, "Go, my spooky servants. Go and extinguish the flame of life in that wizard."

A wave of scepter greeted its order and vanished into thin air. The creature stared momentarily at the empty space before focusing back at the orb.

"You will never live the day when Rune Midgard is mine!"

* * *

"Oh, no! I don't believe it! I'm lost, again!"

Frustrated, Alyssa consulted the battered map she was holding and glanced at her surroundings. Finally, releasing a growl of defeat, she flung the map down and plunked herself onto the grassy riverbank.

"How am I going to get there, when I'm so lousy with my bearings?" she muttered angrily as she plucked the leafy greens fiercely. Releasing her pent up feelings with a huge sigh, she rested her head beneath her crossed arms and stared deeply at the azure sky. _Oh, Constance, what happened? What happened eighteen years ago that you find it so hard to explain it to me? Who did all of this?_ She silently cried as questions raced rapidly in her mind. She dimly recalled the first few years of her life. Her first memory was the sound of cries somewhere and glints of metal everywhere. She remembered how she crouched below the bed in fear. Worst of all, she remembered the horrified screams emitted from her mother before she crashed onto the wooden boards, forming a puddle of blood around her.

"Stop it!"

Alyssa tried to block her memories as she stuffed her fingers into her ears, as if trying to stop the haunted screams. Tears streamed from her eyes unnoticed. She could never forget the day she saw her parents being slain by an unknown creature.

"_What is yours is now mine, Nexxon Quayshua. Hand it over now,"_ the creature had demanded.

Alyssa frowned thoughtfully. What was so important about 'it' that the creature was anxious to claim? Slowly, she took out the worn out package from her pocket. She gently unwrapped the crusty cloth, only to reveal a startling radiance that blinded her momentarily. Stunned, Alyssa quickly covered it and peeked at the blinding, multicolored light between the layers of cloths instead. "Wow," she murmured, dazzled by the beauty of it. It was like a bejeweled stone, full of radiance. Yet Alyssa could feel something powerful hidden within it, something that felt like…_energy_.

"So that's what it wanted. _This_," she whispered as she pocketed it once more. Suddenly she tensed. Something was creeping up from behind her. Slowly edging her hand to her weapon, she readied herself for any sudden attack. She peeked a look from the corner of her eye and noticed that it was a bedraggled archer. Surprised, she called out, "Hey, you! What are you doing hiding like a lunatic between the bushes?"

Startled, the archer jumped and stared at the alchemist, as if noticing her for the first time. "Eh, so sorry. Didn't realize anyone was around," she stammered. Then she did a double take, staring hard at Alyssa. "What?" the alchemist demanded, "Something wrong with the way I dressed today?"

The archer pushed her limp, lavender hair away from her eyes and said slowly, "Alyssa…Alyssa Quayshua?"

Alyssa's eyes widened. How did she know her name? She looked closely at the archer before crying out in delight. "Earilith Sensedriell! Omigod, I didn't know it was you!" she cried as she rushed to hug her.

"Man, you've grown a lot since I last saw you, Lyss!"

"Hey, you've grown too! Never thought you would be an archer, though. I thought you're always keen on sword playing."

"Well, life's not as we planned it to be, is it? I gave up trying to be a sword player once I knew my strength was in long range attacks."

Alyssa grinned. "So, what are you doing here? And why are you so pathetic looking at the moment?"

Grimacing, Earilith looked at her soiled clothes before replying sarcastically, "Gee, thanks a lot. I got stuck being dirty thanks to my missing party. I've been searching for them since daybreak!"

The alchemist raised her immaculate eyebrows. "Party? I haven't seen anyone around this area for ages," she said. Sighing, Earilith slumped on the ground and muttered, "Figures."

"Ah, cheer up Lith! Maybe they had gotten lost somewhere else."

"Great, more walking!"

Alyssa stared at her friend thoughtfully. "Hey, Lith. How about we stick together till you find your party? It's kinda boring traveling alone, and the Morrocan desert isn't exactly tiny," she queried.

The archer's eyes brightened. "Great! Plus this would give us time to catch back on our friendship," she added mischievously. Laughing, Alyssa stuck out her hand and pulled up her friend.

"It's great to have you back, Lith!"

"So, what brings you out here, Lyss?"

Alyssa hesitated. "I'm training," she said shortly.

Earilith sensed her friend was not telling her the entire truth but she did not push it. After all, what is hers to keep shall be hers to tell, when the time is right.

"You know, you've really achieved a lot in a few years. Fancy you being an alchemist now and me still a low-class archer!"

The raven-haired alchemist laughed and shrugged at the same time. "Ah, Lith, it wasn't easy. I had to train endlessly to get to where I am now."

"Hey, maybe you could help me train as well while I'm searching for my dumb party! I'm just about ready to apply for a job as a huntress, only I want to test my skills just a bit more, just in case."

"Sure, why not? It would be fun watching a long-lost pal being promoted."

Earilith laughed. She playfully nudged her friend and picked up her pace. Out of the blue, a piercing wail filled the air. Startled, Earilith exchanged glances with the alchemist.

"Wha-"

She didn't manage to finish her word when suddenly something soft flapped at her face. Frantically, the archer pushed the material away, only to find herself face to face with a beautiful maiden. Well, beautiful wasn't exactly the right word at the moment. The creature's eyes were glowing red on her lily-white skin, her face contorted into an unbecoming snarl. It was a sohee.

"Sohee! What's she doing in Morroc?" Alyssa wondered as she raised her axe, ready to attack the maiden.

"Heeeelp!" came the muffled cry as the creature continued to entangle Earilith with her endless strands of silky blue ribbons. Dashing forward, Alyssa quickly motioned her axe at the black-haired maiden, narrowly avoiding her friend. Taking out a reddish bottle of liquid, she muttered a few words and threw it towards the sohee. A cloud of dust burst and a curious, carnivorous flower emerged. "Flora, attack that sohee!" she commanded. Flora obeyed and began to snarl and bite the sohee.

Not wasting any time, Alyssa rushed by her friend's side, who was unconscious at the moment. Taking out another bottle, filled with orange liquid this time, she murmured a few words and gently poured the liquid into Earilith's mouth. To her relief, the archer stirred weakly. "Earilith! Thank goodness you're okay," she said.

Earilith groaned something unintelligible and her eyes suddenly widened as she stared at the sohee. "Err, Alyssa? I think you're creature's dying," she stammered out, pointing towards the weakening flora. Alyssa looked behind and cursed silently.

"Right, are you strong enough to fight now, Lith? Yes? Good. I want you to attack that sohee as I try to summon more floras to help. This is a great opportunity for you to train yourself before attending the huntress' examination."

Nodding her head grimly, the archer positioned herself in front of the sohee and began showering it with a multitude of sharpened arrows. Her aims were precise and the red-eyed maiden wailed in pain as more and more arrows embedded itself to her body. Although weakened, the sohee continued to try to attack the archer, only to be stopped by three floras this time. Her wails pierced the atmosphere as the truly defeated sohee fell ungainly onto the floor, her clothes tattered and bloodied.

Sighing in relief, Earilith looked at Alyssa and grinned crookedly, "Well, I think that's enough training for now." Alyssa barely noticed her as she stared at the fallen maiden.

"Why would a sohee come this far to the Morrocan desert? Aren't sohees supposed to haunt inside the caves of Payon?"

The archer frowned. Her friend was right. Sohees, by right, do not travel away from their homestead. They prefer the darkness of their dwelling and are fiercely protective over it. So what made this lone maiden travel far and wide? The unspoken question filled the air as both alchemist and archer stared thoughtfully at the carcass of the maiden they had just killed.


	5. Unwanted Visitor

_A/N: On the previous chapter, I had written 'silky BLUE ribbons'. My mistake there, sohee's ribbons are pink, not blue. So sorry about that. Hey, ain't anyone reading my story?? I'm so sad.. TT_

**Chapter 4: Unwanted Visitor**

_The air was filled with hatred and greed. Bloodied carcasses lined the silver pavement, its deep red fluid painting the surroundings crimson. A knight stood nearby, taunting the weakened citizens while laughing at their shrieks of terror. In a slow motion, the bloodied knight raised his sword and sunk it into one of the injured alchemist next to him, relishing the screams of pain emitted from the dying girl. He flung the dead alchemist away and searched for his next victim._

"_Stop right there!"_

_Snarling with surprise, the bloodied knight turned around and found himself face to face with a cloaked figure. It was a silver-haired sage. Growling, the sadistic knight gripped his weapon and charged directly towards the speaker. Suddenly, his eyes widened with pain and surprise. He looked down and saw a large, gaping hole burnt away from his torso. The injured knight gave a surprised gasp before crashing onto the ground. The sage stared disdainfully at the fallen knight, his hands still crackled with white-hot energy._

"_Never mess with me, befallen knight. You are just fighting a losing battle…"

* * *

_

"No!"

Jerking into awareness, Alyssa sat upright on her bed, staring wildly around, breathing hard. She took a few gulps of air and motioned herself to breath slowly and calmly. It was those dreams again. The same dreams she had when she was young. She thought she had left those vivid dreams years ago, just like she had gotten rid of her uneasy feeling over mages.

Alyssa lay back on her bed again, staring at the tanned ceiling this time. What were those dreams about? Who was that bloodied knight that kept on rampaging in her dreams? Better yet, who was that arrogant sage? It was like she had met that sage before, but she couldn't put her finger who it was. Tiredly, she sighed and closed her eyes once more. She needed her rest. Earilith is just a few steps away from graduating her huntress examination. During the last few weeks, Alyssa had been doing nothing but helping her petite friend train and study for her exams. They still couldn't find the archer's lost party even after searching for a few weeks. On the verge of giving up, Alyssa suggested mildly that they might have gone to undertake their own examinations at their respective guild.

"Come to think of it, I haven't even focus on my _own_ quest," she muttered to herself guiltily, pushing a stray lock of raven hair away from her cheek. Sighing once more, Alyssa got up and began to change into her alchemist clothes. Just as she was adjusting her belt, her well-honed senses quivered. Someone was in her room. Steadily and calmly, the alchemist finished dressing up and casually picked up some small daggers, as if to place them in her loaded cart.

Alyssa closed her eyes and focused on the moving object. Then suddenly, without warning, she swung behind and threw the daggers at the same time. There was a howl of pain and an assassin appeared in front of her, his hand bloodied. "Oi, do you really have to do that?" he howled as he jumped crazily about, holding his injured hand.

Raising an eyebrow, Alyssa looked at the assassin without batting an eyelash. "Shadow, what a surprise," she said evenly, her face never betraying her inner rage, "So what is it this time? Someone paying you to assassinate me?"

Glaring at her, Shadow picked up a bottle of potion from the alchemist's bedside table, tore the top open, and poured the liquid on his hand. Grimacing with pain, he watched as the healing potion closed his wound. Setting down the empty potion once more, he stood up and faced the grim-faced alchemist. "Ah, Alyssa, you never have change, have you? Always as suspicious as ever," mocked Shadow.

He watched triumphantly as Alyssa clenched her knuckles and allowed emotions to show in her expression. "What do you want, Shadow?" she snarled. The assassin shrugged carelessly and wandered around her room, checking out her belongings. He spied something pink and lifted it up, snorting with laughter. "Ah, so _now_ you like pink? Aw, and yet you never did accept my gift, did you?" he sneered, fingering the pink lingerie before flinging it somewhere behind him. Alyssa fought to control her temper as she watched the assassin rifling through her belongings.

"The reason why I didn't accept your _gift_ is because it was a sin to accept it!"

He narrowed his eyes momentarily. "Well, that wasn't the way I saw things before at that time. As I recalled, it was _you_ that wanted their deaths, not me!" he said lightly as he continued to scrounge through her clothes casually. Alyssa closed her eyes. Shadow's cruel statement had brought up unwanted memories, the past that she wished to bury.

"Enough is enough, Shadow! If you're not telling why are you here, you'd better get out before I smash you into pieces!" she threatened angrily, brandishing her axe at him. She had managed to get a firm hold on her weapon when Shadow was too busy checking out her pink lingerie. Her cheeks burned when she saw the pink scrap decorating the wall lamp.

"Ah, so now we're back into business, are we? Well, I'm not going to spoil your fun of discovery. I'm just here to tell you that you're sister is in the hands of the Master. And if you don't give him what he wants, he'll personally rip her heart out and serve it on a silver platter."

"Why you-"

Streaks of silver dashed in the air as Alyssa swung her axe furiously towards the assassin. As quick as thought, Shadow evaded her blow, laughing infuriatingly. He took out his katar and made a quick slash at the enraged alchemist before leaping out through an open window.

"Just a little something to remember me, sweetheart!"

Breathing hard, the alchemist stared at the open window. She felt a sharp pain on her right arm and looked down. Droplets of blood oozed out from a cross-shaped wound. Judging from the deep cut, she sighed as she realized that that shape was about to stay permanently on her arm. Picking up a roll of bandage and a bottle of pearly-white potion, she began to tend on her wound. Spying her pink lingerie, she pursed her lips and grabbed the offending garment.

"You, stupid pink crap, is going to stay in here, _permanently_," she growled angrily, stuffing it into a small sack before burying it into her cart. She hated being made fun at. Worse still, she hated the wayhe threatened her with Constance. "I'll get you for this, Shadow!" she vowed silently.


	6. The Sage

_A/N: This is a super fast update. I know I had just updated my story earlier on the day but I couldn't resist writing on a new chapter. Haha. Anyway, hope everyone enjoy this chapter and pardon me if there's any grammar mistakes; my eyes are heavy at the moment --, Doesn't anyone read my fanfic? No one likes the story..waaaa..._

**Chapter 5: The Sage**

News about the city of Prontera traveled fast. The stories about the fall of the Pronterean knights were soon the hot news throughout Rune Midgard. Worse yet, the gossip regarding their beloved king, King Tristan, is currently missing, filled the citizens in panic and terror. Their king had always been the one taking care of their well being, so without him, what is bound to happen? Wild rumors spread like wildfire, each story getting more farfetched as it passes on. Some say that a dark creature swooped down and killed thirty people in a single killing blow. A handful declared that a large group of unknown assassins infiltrated the city and killed everyone, kidnapping King Tristan at the same time. While others swore that they saw a stampede of demons ravaging the city before leaving with the king.

Many theories were formed but everyone was stumped by the mysterious attack. Therefore, the Divination Sector, which consists of sages both old and young, had self-appointed themselves to unravel the situation. Not that anyone bothered to object; the sages were well known for their wide expanse of knowledge. Day in and day out, the studious thinkers examined the facts and logic of the problem, hoping to find a solution to their questions.

Piles of worn books tottered by the edge of the dusty table as one particular sage pored over ancient scrolls and unintelligible writings. A candle burned nearby, its soft light illuminating the weary amethyst eyes of the sage. His silvery hair fell forward as he leaned closer at what he was studying. Absent-mindedly, he pushed his unkempt hair back, his eyes never leaving the ancient symbols etched on a piece of worn parchment. Suddenly, growling in disgust, the sage thumped on the table hard, causing the tottering books to fall and crash onto the hard floor. He stared at the fallen books. Hopeless. Everything was hopeless to him. Nothing here makes sense.

"I gotta find the answers before it's too late…"

Standing up, the exhausted sage picked up his staff and strode out determinedly to the exit, ignoring the untidy mess he created. His tired muscles screamed of aches and sores, but he ignored them and walked purposefully towards a fair lady nearby. There was no time to waste and he needed to seek out the truth fast.

"Send me to Morroc city, please," he said crisply to the lady, who incidentally was a receptionist of Kapra. The lady bowed and teleported him to the requested city.

The silvery-haired sage felt himself soaring through a different realm and landed gracefully in the dusty city. Having arrived in the city, the sage looked around him calculatedly. He wanted to reach his destination fast but he doubted if his strength would carry him there. He was getting weary from hours of research and he needed some rest. Spotting an inn nearby, he started to walk towards it. After a few steps, he stumbled and crashed onto the pavement. "Oh god, I'm so weak," he muttered as he tried to get up.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Wearily, the sage tried to focus on the voice and found himself staring at a pair of piercing blue eyes of a lovely woman. Silently, he cursed himself for being so helpless. He hated others to see him that way. _Damn_, he thought wretchedly as he felt himself slipping into darkness and oblivion. Just before passing out, he noticed a spark of recognition in the raven-haired beauty. _Do I know her?_ He thought hazily as sweet oblivion blanketed him.

* * *

"Lyss? Are you there?"

Alyssa started as her friend peeped into her room. Quickly covering her wound with her cape, she turned around, plastering a smile on her face. Her quick wits told her to carry on like nothing happened, but one look at the archer's face made her realize that it would just be futile. She sighed.

"Alyssa, what happened? And-is that _blood_?"

Again, the alchemist sighed. "Something came up. Or rather, someone came in," came the cryptic reply as she stood up to clear away the mess Shadow made.

Earilith looked shrewdly at her friend. Alyssa doesn't normally work herself out into anger but she sensed her fury this time. Something big happened in this room, she knew it, but what?

"Lyss, is something wrong?" she asked quietly, sitting gingerly at the edge of the bed while watching the jerky movements of the alchemist. Alyssa laughed bitterly, "Everything's wrong, nothing's right. I can't even rest without knowing what is to happen to my sister."

"Wha-? Did something happen to Constance? Alyssa, what's the problem? Spill!" the archer demanded as she stared at her friend in shock. She knew Constance since young. The graceful huntress was the one that had encouraged her to pick up archery as her job instead of hunkering about with swords. She was also the one to patiently teach Earilith the skills of an archer.

Unable to contain her emotions any longer, Alyssa gave a huge sob and flung herself at her friend, sobbing uncontrollably. Murmuring softly and comfortingly, the archer stroked her hair gently, soothing her pain and sorrows. Finally, Alyssa lifted her tearstained face and pushed away her streaked hair from her face disconsolately.

"Constance is kidnapped by someone I don't even know who. And Shadow just popped in a while ago delivering the message that she'll die if I don't give him what he wants," she stated flatly, feeling devoid of any emotion now.

Startled, Earilith stared at the alchemist. "Kidnapped? But why? And what does this unknown fella wants?" she asked curiously. Alyssa shrugged. She didn't want to tell her friend about the glimmering stone. It was best if it remained unknown to everyone, even Earilith.

"Come let's go out. This place is getting onto my nerves."

She grabbed her cart and slung her axe around her shoulder, looking back only once to make sure the archer followed her. Her waist-length raven hair swished away as she left the room.

Earilith stared at the gaping door. She was still trying to digest the startling news when Alyssa left the room like a whirlwind. She mentally shook herself and picked up her bow and arrows. "Some things are best left unsaid, unless she wants to explain," she muttered to herself.

Closing the door behind her, she went downstairs to the bar. "That girl is one heck of a fast walker. She's not even here!" she muttered as she headed towards the inn's entrance door. Just as she stepped outside, she saw that there was a commotion nearby. "Now what?" she groaned silently, striding purposefully towards the scene. The first thing she saw was her friend holding an unconscious sage. Make that a _handsome_ unconscious sage. _Some girls have all the luck_, she thought as she hurried by her friend's side.

"Alyssa, what's wrong? And who's this fella?"

The alchemist stared at Earilith uncomprehendingly for a few moments before saying urgently, "Lith, help me carry this man to our room. He passed out just a while ago."

The archer raised an eyebrow. This sounds serious, and she didn't mean the sage's condition. She'd seen too many sages in their fainting fits due to overstress and overwork. No, what interest her was the way her friend was reacting over him. The alchemist was never this ruffled before.

"Lith!"

Jerking out from her thoughts, Earilith nodded and bent down to lift his arm and place it around her neck. She motioned Alyssa to do the same, and the both of them grunted as they lifted the dead weight of the sage between them. "Boy, this is definitely not my day," the archer grunted as she felt her legs getting shaky from his weight. Around them, some of the mischievous boys catcalled them while the others looked at the sage concernedly. Some even looked doubtful at the two ladies. They seemed too weak to carry a man, even if it took both of them.

"Let's go, and bring your cart along with you," panted the archer, feeling glad that the inn was just nearby. Nodding her head, Alyssa used one hand to pull her cart while the other holding onto the silvery-haired sage.

"Oi, if all of you aren't going to help us, could you at least don't block our way please?" yelled Earilith in exasperation, beads of sweat forming on her forehead as yet another thief stood in front of them. Then out of the blue, she felt herself getting stronger and her energy restored. Surprised, she looked at Alyssa, who looked back at her at equal astonishment. She looked around, wondering who had healed her. To her surprise, she saw a priest making his way forcefully towards her, grinning away. _There's something familiar about that priest,_ she thought to herself as she struggled to walk past the curious onlookers.

"Here, let me help you," said the priest as he took the deadened weight into his arms. He half-carried the slumped sage into the inn and asked, "Where shall I put him, Lith?"

Earilith stared at him, feeling confused. How did he know her name? Behind her, Alyssa motioned wearily towards her room. "Just put him on the bed," she said. Nodding his head, the priest dumped the body unceremoniously onto the mattress and looked at the archer, one of his eyebrows lifting in mock disapproval.

"Why, I believe you've forgotten all about me, Lith!" he said mischievously.

"Ahh, I don't think I know you. Or at least I _think_ I know you, but I'm not sure where did I meet you before."

The priest laughed, portraying a set of white teeth at the same time. "Ah, so you did forget about us, didn't you? Let me refresh your memories. The first time we met, you were yelling at me thinking that I stole something from my sister at the caves of Payon," he said cheerfully.

Something clicked in the archer's brain and she exclaimed, "Astrexil! Astrexil Kristos! I haven't seen you in ages! Why did you leave me all alone in Payon at that time? And where's Anexia?"

Astrexil raised both hands laughingly and said, "Whoa, slow down! The reason why we left you were because we had a little family crisis back home and we had to leave immediately. So sorry if we made you worried. Yeah, Anexia's taking her assassin's exams right now, which is why I'm walking around like an idiot in this city."

The archer laughed, feeling a little overwhelmed by all this. Looks like she needs to take the huntress exam fast; everyone's been promoted already! "Err, sorry to break the happy reunion guys, but can we have Mr. Healer here for a moment to heal Shenzein from his obvious exhaustion?" Alyssa voice rose slightly as she placed a wet towel on the sage's forehead. Murmuring an apology, Astrexil stood by the silvery-haired sage and quickly healed him, trying to restore his energy.

Earilith frowned thoughtfully. Shenzein. _That name sounds familiar_, she thought as she watched the priest on his work. "Hey, wait a sec! That was the mage that rescued me from the orc! But what does he have to do with Alyssa?" she said to herself. She felt a flicker of jealousy in her as she watched the alchemist tenderly attending to the sage. She quickly banished it and mentally shook herself. _Stop it! He means nothing to you and you know it! Besides, I have other things more important than that sage to take care with; my huntress exams for example,_ she scolded herself silently. Noticing that Astrexil was done, she motioned him to follow her and leave the other two alone. Nodding, the priest said something gently at Alyssa and followed Earilith outside. _Things are happening way too fast_, thought the archer uneasily as she headed down to a vacant table. She needed a strong dose of alcohol…


	7. Mixed feelings

A/N: No one likes my story... TT

**Chapter 6: Mixed Feelings**

_The sky was red. Vengeful cries filled the air as slivers of metal swished here and there, creating a horrific atmosphere. The sounds of metal clanging were everywhere. Knights, crusaders, alchemists, and even assassins were fighting for their lives to survive. The odd thing was, they were not fighting each other; they were focusing on a lone knight that stood out among the rest of them. This knight was not armored like a Pronteran knight. Bedecked with coal-black metal and intricate carvings, the knight emitted an aura of darkness and power._

_Posing a casual stance, the dark knight stood aloof as he waited for the next attack. "Come on, you filthy cowards. Think you can beat me?" a raspy, sort-of metallic voice came out from the black visor. He kept a firm grip on his sword as he waited for his foes. Enraged, an assassin dashed forward and tried to plunge her katar into his unprotected side, only to widen her eyes in surprise as the knight evaded her blow and pierced her heart with his own attack. Laughing harshly, he twisted his blade a little to savor her screams before unceremoniously dumping her on top of the pile of corpses._

"_So who's next?"_

_The knight taunted the frightened looks of his attackers, almost daring them to send him to his grave. No one could even touch him without getting slaughtered in the process. He was too fast for them._

"_Your time of horror is over, knight! Leave us in peace!"_

_The knight turned around slowly, his movement betraying his exaggerated surprise. "My, my. Feisty thing, aren't you? So you think you can defeat me? Me, the chosen one from the Dark Master himself? You're giving yourself way too much credit," he mocked as he faced his opponent. Then his eyes widened, not in surprise but in sudden fear. It was him. The one his master had been talking about. But hadn't Succubus killed him already?_

"_I see you remembered me, knight. Leave this city alone and never darken our doorsteps or you shall perish."_

"_Think I would actually agree to that, sage? This city is mine to mess around and it shall be that way. So what makes you think you can stop me?"_

_The sage mentioned smiled grimly as his hands began to glow unnaturally. "So you want to fight, eh? Fine. A fight we shall have then. Prepare yourself, knight!" he said calmly. Snarling, the knight gripped his sword tightly and charged towards the sage, evading the fiery blows from the sage._

"_That's the best you can so, you white-haired freak?" he sneered as he dodged another fireball. _

"_Ah, but that is just the beginning, knight. You haven't seen the best part yet," the silvery-haired sage said softly. He raised his hands upward and mentally prepared a spell. Just as the knight reached him, he smiled sarcastically as white-got lightning bolts charged towards the dark armor, electrocuting him into dust. Placing his hands limply on his sides, he stared at the pile of dust and metallic liquid on the blood red floor._

"_Told you to leave already, and my guess if that you're on your way to meet your Master again…"

* * *

_

Alyssa woke up abruptly. Her breathing was uneven as she struggled to recollect her scattered wits. It was that dream again. Only this time it was getting more detailed. "Ouch," she muttered, placing her hand onto her forehead as she realized her head was thumping badly. Her body was sore and ached all over due to her foolishness of sleeping on a chair. Wait a minute, why was she sleeping on a chair anyway? Alyssa frowned and looked at her own bed.

"Oh yeah, cause there's a sage on my bed that I think it's Shenzein but I'm not entirely sure," she said under her breath as she stood up painfully. It was rather dark and when she tried to walk to her cart but stumbled on something in the process. Cursing under her breath, she was regaining her balance when the sage woke up abruptly.

"Great, you're awake. Stay there awhile, will you? I need to get something for my blasted headache first," she said painfully as she felt her head being hammered. The sage looked at her confusedly for a moment. He stared around, as if to recollect his thoughts and then looked at Alyssa shrewdly.

"You're Alyssa, aren't you?"

The alchemist was just about to pick up a bottle of red potion when he popped out that question softly. Her hand stilled momentarily. She closed her eyes and opened them again, almost regretting her little action. Her headache had intensified. Picking up the bottle shakily, she ignored his question as she poured the red liquid onto a piece of cloth and placed it on her head. "Aah," she murmured as she felt the soothing medicine working wonders on her pounding head. Still holding the cloth, she walked back to the nearby chair and faced him with half-closed eyes.

"Yeah, I am. Who else can I be, Shenzein Zephyrthros?" she smiled at him faintly.

He did not return her smile. "What are you doing here?" he asked in a low, intense voice. Alyssa looked at him in surprise.

"I happen to stay here, you doofus! And you, my friend, are the cause of my headache at the moment. So I should say that you should be more grateful that I've brought you in instead of leaving you to rot and be mugged by the streets of Morroc!"

Shenzein stared at her awhile, his mouth twitching reluctantly. "Always the same old Alyssa, aren't you. Hot-tempered as always," he said, his mouth forming a reluctant smile. The alchemist felt her breath leaving her as she looked at him. He was so darned handsome.

"Well, I may be the same old Alyssa, as you said, but you sure have changed, from the say I see it," she said lightly as she switched hands on the cloth. At least her headache was getting better. She sneaked a glance at him. He did change, she realized, not only physically but mentally as well. Gone were the days when her friend sounded happy-go-lucky and his carefree ways. Instead, they were now replaced by a serious look and an unsmiling figure that reminded her of Leon von Frisch from the Academy.

"If this is what happens to mages that advances into study of magical academy, I thank god I didn't join you," she added, giving him a grin. Shenzein looked at her as if she was from another continent. Sighing, Alyssa put down the cloth and muttered, "Never mind."

"So tell me about yourself, Alyssa Quayshua. What have you been doing for the last few years? I see you've become an alchemist already," he noted caustically.

Alyssa stiffened. His tone implied that what she did was dumb, and she hated it. "It doesn't matter, Shein. Look, if you want to be all stuffy and sarcastic, I suggest that you leave now. I'm not exactly interested in helping a friend I thought I once knew only to be insulted by you!" she retorted, stung.

The sage looked at her in surprise. "Eh, Lyss, I wasn't insulting you at all. I was just stating a fact, that's all," he explained, staring at her curiously. She seemed rather touchy at the moment. Shenzein suddenly flung his covers aside and strode towards Alyssa. She looked at him in surprise.

"Eh? What are you-"

He silenced her with a look and placed his hand on her forehead. Closing his eyes, he muttered something unintelligible and gently rubbed her forehead slowly. Alyssa closed her eyes as well, feeling a soft glow of relaxation flowing inside her. Gradually, her headache passed and she opened her eyes once more, adjusting quickly to the bright surroundings. She looked at the sage gratefully and said, "Thanks, Shein. Sorry for being a jerk just now. I'm just rather…touchy lately, that's all."

Shrugging, Shenzein removed his hand and smiled at her. "Don't worry, I definitely know the feeling," he said, bending down and gave her a hug. Startled, Alyssa stared at his back for a while before returning his hug. She felt him stiffen and withdrew away from her. Shenzein looked at her carefully and said, "Sorry, didn't mean to do that. I don't know what had gotten into me these days." He looked surprised at his own actions. Then again, _she_ was surprised as well. Hugging Sheinzen made her feel…_wanted_.

Smiling at him, she stood up and hugged him this time. "It's okay, hugging is fun, and not a sin at all," she whispered in his ear mischievously. She felt his body tense for a few seconds before hugging her back tightly. He buried his face into her raven hair and murmured, "Oh, how I've missed you, Lyss!"

"Believe me, you're not the only one. Who was the one that traveled solo but never even thought of searching for his friend?" she asked wryly as she detangled herself from his grasp. Shenzein grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, I was pretty busy with my reports and stuff."

Laughing, Alyssa poked him playfully at his chest and retorted, "Yeah, right! Why you became a sage I have no idea. Sages are _so_ boring! All they do is just read, read, read! What _do_ they do for fun anyway?"

Shenzein pretended to be deeply in thought, "Hmm, let's see…us sages usually like to…_tickle_ unsuspecting alchemists!" He made a playful grab at Alyssa as she shrieked laughingly and avoided his hand. "Eh, eh! Don't do anything silly, Shein! Your energy's not fully recharged yet, you know," she said breathlessly as she evaded his grasp again.

He grinned playfully. "All right, if you say so. But on one condition: You must tuck me in."

Alyssa stared at him. Was he serious? She echoed the question aloud. The sage grinned even wider and nodded, looking all dopey. "Hmm, alright. But you must promise not to be silly or naughty, okay?" she said in mock-seriousness. Shenzein copied her attitude and nodded equally serious. She looked at him and they both burst into laughter.

"Ah, now _this_ is the real Shenzein Zephyrthros I used to know, and not the stuffy and boring person you are now!"

"Aie, I missed this a lot. Remember those times when you felt like skinning me alive cause I kept creating havoc in Geffen?"

"How could I forget? My sister gave me a huge lecture on responsibility and choosing the right friends soon after!"

"Serves you right! At least you don't have a brother acting like a wounded baphomet just as soon as you did something wrong," he teased.

Alyssa's smile faded a little as she remembered her sister. She noticed her friend was looking at her curiously and quickly pasted a smile on her face. "Oi, didn't you just said you wanted to be tucked in? C'mon then, I want to get some rest myself," she said lightly.

Shenzein studied the alchemist at the corner of his eye as she stood up. She had grown up to be a beautiful alchemist. Her waist-length hair was as black as ever, he remembered. And her smile…He dreamily remembered the times she used to smile and laugh at his silly jokes. His heart twisted a little as he reminisced the good old days. How he missed those times. Better yet, how he missed Alyssa. If it wasn't for those threats, Shenzein doubted if he would leave her side. But…

He shook his head. Now is not the good time to reminiscence. He looked at Alyssa once more, only to realize that his feelings for her were as strong as ever. _How am I going to live through this again, I have no idea,_ he groaned silently as his emotions wrecked havoc inside him. Sighing, he stood up and went to bed. True to her word, the alchemist did tuck him in, and she even kissed him on the forehead before whispering to him goodnight.

She rose from her seat and switched off the light before pulling a duvet and placed it onto the floor. Shenzein stared at her outlined figure, his forehead still feeling the imprint of her kiss, his skin still tingling from her whispered words. _Enough, Shenzein! You must not have any distractions and you know it! How else are you going to defeat him if you don't concentrate?_ He scolded himself as he snuggled deeper into the covers. But he didn't sleep, not yet at least. He stared above him, into the cracked ceiling, flashes of old time memories chasing each other in his mind…

"_For the last time, Shenzein Zephyrthros, stay away from that girl!"_

"_But why-"_

"_You do as I say, boy. And no one will get hurt. Unless you wish to follow your parents' unfortunate footsteps…?"_

_The mage fledgling stiffened. He stared at his mentor unbelievingly. How could he be so cruel?_

"_Master-"_

_The wizened wizard raised a hand, curbing his flow of words. "Enough said, boy. Leave now and do as you're told!"_

_Again, Shenzein stared hard at his mentor. Suddenly, he felt a deep boiling rage slowly making its way up to his head. Drawing a deep breath, he looked at the wizard squarely at the eye and said,_

"_No."_

_The wizard stared at him. "What did you say?" he thundered menacingly._

_Undaunted, Shenzein stood his ground and replied strongly, "No, master. No more. No more threats, no more unwanted quests. I'm sick and tired of doing your dirty work and I'm not doing it anymore! Go find someone else to be your lapdog, cause I'm leaving!"_

_He strode abruptly towards the exit as soon as he finished his outburst, only to pause momentarily and turned around. "Oh, and sir? I think I do not want to be a wizard anymore. Perhaps sage is more towards my specialty." And with that, he stalked out from the School of Geffenia Magic. _

_Stepping outside, the silver-haired mage breathed deeply for awhile, trying to calm his scattered nerves. "I must not tell Alyssa about this," he muttered to himself. He suddenly slapped his forehead. "Alyssa! Oh damn, I forgot!" he cursed silently as he raced past by other students and teachers from the school. Panting, he stopped just in front of the Kapra's receptionist._

"_P-P-Prontera, please," he gasped, trying to ease a stitch from his side._

_Nodding cheerfully, the receptionist flicked her hand and transported him to the busy city of Prontera. _I hate Kapra's teleportation,_ he grumbled to himself as he picked himself up. Somehow or other, he had managed to once again land not-so-gracefully on his sore bottom._

_As he brushed his dusty mantle, he thought back of his former mentor's words. There was something sinister in his speech and the mage felt rather uneasy about it. He didn't want anything to happen to his friend. He didn't want anyone to get hurt anymore because of him. Perhaps it was time for them to part ways…_

"_Ah, I forgot again! Lyss's gonna be soo mad at me!" he groaned as he remembered that he was supposed to meet the merchant at the center square. He dashed madly, waving his arms about as shouted, "Make way, make way!". His mad antics caused quite a number of gaping and curious onlookers, which he deftly ignored. Finally, he noticed his irate friend standing in front of the Prontera official guide._

"_Yo, Lyss! Sorry I was late. My 'caring' brother gave me yet another lecture again before I left house," he lied rapidly as he gasped for breath. The stitch by his side worsened as he drew huge pants._

"_Serves you right! You're always late!"_

"_Sorry, sorry…"_

_Sighing, Alyssa rummaged her brown, leathery bag and produced a bottle of red potion. "Here, drink this," she offered to the breathless mage. Shenzein took the bottle gratefully and downed the fiery liquid in two large gulps. The potion did wonders to his abating strength. Within minutes, he ceased panting and wiped his sticky mouth with his sleeve._

"_Umm, so, shall we start training again?" he babbled, thinking desperately that he should sound normal. To his relieve, she did not suspect anything but merely said, "Right. Let me get some potions before we leave."_

_Nodding his head, he silently followed the raven-haired merchant into the nearest potion shop. As he watched her haggle for the cheapest price, his mind worked furiously. He needed to get away from her, fast. He knew that if he stayed, his former mentor would definitely make his life miserable; by hurting Alyssa. His heart ached at the possibilities of her getting harmed. _No, I must leave,_ he resolved silently._

_They left the shop, and Shenzein thought quickly how he should explain it to her._

"_Err, Lyss?I have something to tell you."_

"_What?" the merchant asked in surprise, looking at him._

"_I hate to say this, but I need to carry on solo in order to train myself in becoming a sage. I'm so sorry, but I can't be with you anymore."_

_He fidgeted uncomfortably as Alyssa stared at him, her eyes betraying her emotions. The mage felt his heartstrings pulling as he saw her hurt feelings. He wanted to pull her close and hug her tight, explaining his problem. But instead, he pulled himself together; telling himself fiercely that it is for her own good._

"_It's okay, Shien. Who knows, we might meet again someday," she paused briefly and rummaged her bag for something before continuing playfully, "Here, keep this. Give it back to me the next time you meet me, okay? So you better keep it safe of else I'll bang your head with my axe if I meet you." She handed him a silver charm necklace and looked at him._

_Taking the necklace, Shenzein was overwhelmed by his emotions and suddenly hugged her tightly._

"_I won't forget you, Alyssa Quayshua…"_

Returninginto reality once more, Shenzein pulled something out from his robes. It was the silver necklace the alchemist had given him years ago. He had worn it straight after she gave him the necklace. Somehow, it had become part of him already. "I'll give it to you the next time we meet, Lyss," he whispered to himself, tucking the necklace back beneath the folds of his robes. Right now, he needed to rest first. It'll be a long day tomorrow…


	8. Friend or Foe?

_A/N: So sorry about the late update, I was away for a few weeks without any computers in hand. Oh and so sorry about the 'sulking', I was in a weird mood at that time. Anyway, hope you will enjoy this update, although it is shorter than the previous chapter_

**Chapter 7: Friend of Foe?**

_Alyssa,_

_By the time you've found this letter I'm probably already sitting for my huntress examination in Payon City. Don't wait up for me 'cause I'm not entirely sure when my exams will be over. Anyway, could you meet me at Al de Baran at about one week later? I know you need to be there since you're guild's there, and I really, really hope that I can train with you together. Oh, and bring your drop dead gorgeous friend along too! Hehe…_

_Earilith_

* * *

Something was poking her painfully on her side. Groaning, Alyssa tried to ignore the jabs and tried to get a few winks of much needed sleep. "Go away," her muffled voice was heard beneath the thick, fluffy pillow covering her head. The pokes increased and a small outburst of soft laughter rang out.

Irritated, Alyssa finally threw her pillow at that outburst and glared at the culprit. "Can't you give me a break? I need sleep!" she grumbled as she rubbed her eyes rather sleepily. She looked blearily for a moment, trying to see who was it. Focusing properly, she realized that her source of annoyance was none other than that sage himself.

As she tried to clear the cobwebs from her brain, Shenzein laughed at her as he said merrily, "Wake up, sleepyhead! You're the last to rise today. Besides, it's already noon and we _definitely_ need our lunch! Unless you're on a diet that is…" He glanced slyly at the irate alchemist. Alyssa groaned again but this time she got up unwillingly.

"All right, I'll get up. But you'll just have to get lost while I change. So, get lost!" she ordered as she pushed him out from the room. Slamming the door on his grinning face, she looked blankly around for a moment. Now, where were her clothes? As she rummaged her rather untidy basket full of clothes, she suddenly spied a written note gently plummeting onto the floor. Curious, she bent down and picked up the fluttering note.

Quickly, she scanned the written piece as a grin was slowly forming on her face. "So that archer had finally decided to take the exams," she said to herself, trying to quell her laughter, "At last! I was wondering when she would go anyway." Alyssa left the note on her dressing table and continued her search for her clothes. It took her a few moments to realize that they were just lying beside the armchair she was snoozing on last night. Cursing at herself, she quickly grabbed the clothes and donned them as fast as possible, grabbing a hairbrush and run it through her hair frantically. Finally, smoothing her skirt, she took a deep breath and opened the door. Holding the handles of her flowery baggage, she lumbered down slowly, cautious of her newly made cart.

Once downstairs, she automatically scanned the semi-dark bar for her friend. After a few glances, she noticed that Shenzein was sitting by a rather large, wilting pot of flowers. She made her way towards him and determinedly ignored the catcalls and wolf whistles as she passed by several men. She hated the fact that men would simply disturb her and thinks her as weak just because she's a girl. She never considered herself as a beauty since she was often overshadowed by her sister's radiance. Not that she minded anyway, she hated to be in the center of limelight.

"Ah, Lyss! Glad that you could make it down at last. Have a drink?" he offered as he lifted his own glass of Morrocan spirits. Nodding her head, the alchemist sank onto the chair next to Shenzein and ordered a large plate of savage barbequed meat with a glass of orange juice.

"So, what's up here? You still didn't tell me what are you doing here. And why did you faint anyway? No bruises, no wounds, but dehydration?" queried Alyssa lightly. Shenzein stared thoughtfully as a huge, bronze plate appeared in front of the alchemist, along with the small glass of juice she ordered. Finally, he said, "Well, I'm here partly as a vacation I've always needed for so long. And the reason why I crashed was 'cause I was doing some research the night before. I didn't realize I was over exhausted I guess."

Alyssa snorted rather rudely as she shoved the tender meat into her mouth. After a few chews, she swallowed it down and washed it orange juice before saying, "How typical of you, Shein! Never a day I've seen you _not_ studying or researching. What are you trying to do to yourself, overstuffing your brain that way?"

The sage chuckled. "Ah, Lyss, it's what I like anyway. Just like how you're enjoying the ways of an alchemist as well as a merchant. By the way, I thought you had a few friends with you? Where are they anyway?"

The alchemist was just about to spear a piece of meat when he asked that question. Putting down her fork, she gave him a surprised look before saying evenly, "Okay, first of all, Earilith went to undertake her huntress' exams. The priest I have no idea, since I don't know him anyway. I think he went to find his sister at the assassin's guild. But, the question is, how did you know I was not alone?"

"Easy, people talk around here. Especially when they are talking about a certain beautiful alchemist staying here," he said simply, a wide grin on his face. He tactfully omitted the fact that the same people were now kicked out from the inn after insulting and insinuating about her.

Cleaning her plate clean, Alyssa sank back and patted her full stomach, releasing a large gust of air. "Full? That's pretty much a small plate for you, doncha' think?" the sage teased her. In their childhood days, the alchemist was usually the big eater between the both of them. There were even times when Alyssa had managed to down five large helpings of wild rice and spicy meat before surrendering. Shenzein grinned at that memory. It was rather funny, now that he thought about it back. All of the guys gaped at the slender girl as she ate, wondering where did she _put_ the food in her stomach. Their thoughts were only one: How could such a slender girl eat so much and not get fat at all?

"-funny, Shein!"

Shenzein started. He stared blankly at her. Alyssa sighed and rose up, grabbing the handles of her cart. "Never mind. You're mind's elsewhere anyway," she said.

"Come on, let's go exploring. Being cooped up here is so boring."

The sage nodded his head and flipped a few coins onto the wooden table. Silently, he followed her outside. "Hey, I'm sorry if I made-" he started as he stepped out from the inn. He stopped in surprise and horror. He felt like he had stepped in a vortex of darkness as soon as he stepped out from the wooden door. Right in front of him, there were no less than ten ghoulish, eerie nightmares, stamping and snorting for all they worth.

"Alyssa!"

The sage readjusted his eyesight quickly and began to realize that the alchemist was knocked unconscious and held hostage by one of the gloomy centaur. Shenzein rushed towards her, only to be blocked by two nightmares. "Get lost, you filthy beasts!" he shouted angrily, mentally preparing a fire spell quickly. He felt the white-hot flames coursing in him and quickly focused it into his hands. As quick as thought, the sage threw a few fireballs at the beasts and leaped back just in time as one of the scepters came crashing downwards.

As quick as thought, the nightmares circled around Shenzein, waving their scepters menacingly as they emitted an eerie cry. To his dismay, he saw that the unearthly creatures had pulled the alchemist out of sight. "Just what I need, _more_ troubles!" he shouted angrily as he mentally prepared a few spells. In grim determination, he darted in and out, avoiding the deadly waves from the nightmares as he summoned more fireballs and soul spheres continuously, wounding the horror beasts. He dare not use any fully charged spells as Alyssa was still among the dastardly creatures. "Come on, Alyssa, where are you?" he muttered as he frantically darted looks around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the alchemist.

"Get out of my way, you big ugly brute!" he yelled frustratedly when one of them blocked his path. He sent a few fireballs flying on their way and quickly ducked as it howled in pain and checked its singed wound.

"This is not good," he groaned, "Alyssa, come on, where _are_ you?" Suddenly, he heard the sounds of metals clashing on one another behind him. Stopping in surprise, he turned around, only to find himself staring at a blond female assassin. As he watched, the assassin deftly avoided the swinging blades and added a few attacks on her own. Her attacks were swift and precise, not to mention deadly. In just a few seconds, she had sent one of the horrors crashing down, dead. _Wow, she's good,_ he marveled. Suddenly, the assassin turned towards him. "Oi, you there! Go and get your friend while I distract these filthy beasts!" she shouted as she ducked another blow.

"Er, right," he replied, rather taken aback. How did she know he was searching for Alyssa? Then he realized that he was actually at the streets of Morroc. "Now where are all those shady folks when I need them?" he muttered, pondering at the puzzle as he searched for the unconscious raven-haired girl. Finally, he spotted her, and her captor, beside a withered tree trunk. _Aha!_ He thought triumphantly. Rushing towards her, he quickly summoned a few soul spheres and sent them behind the captor, only to redirect them towards it again from behind. Surprised by the sudden attack, the nightmare gave a cry and dropped the alchemist. Seizing this opportunity, Shenzein dashed forward and hurriedly hoisted the alchemist on his shoulder and left the spot. Ignoring the beasts, he avoided the swinging blows as he headed towards the inn. There, he placed Alyssa gently onto the doorstep and went back into the chaotic mess. He had to help his unusual aid before the creatures slay her.

"Hey, I'm going to conjure up something big now! Could you circle up these putrid creatures in one spot?" he shouted as he held out his staff in front of him. The assassin heard him and nodded before flitting in and out, chasing the now confused nightmares into a tight circle. Staring directly at the nightmares, the sage focused his energies into his glowing staff, muttering something unintelligible for a few seconds. He felt the earth rumbling below him momentarily before hard, solid spikes rose into the air, piercing the eerie beasts, killing them all at once.

"Phew!" he sighed, slumping on a nearby rock exhaustedly. He glanced briefly at Alyssa, glad to see that she was okay, apart from the fact that she was still oblivious to reality. He tore his glance away from her and focused on the assassin, who was now leaning against a crumbling wall.

"Thanks for your help, miss. But why did you help me? No offense, but as far as I can see, not one of those lousy streetwalkers interest themselves in a bit of a killing spree," he asked curiously. The assassin tucked a stray lock of champagne blond hair behind her ear and grinned at Shenzein.

"Question, questions," she said in mockingly, "For your information, I happen to enjoy lending a helping hand anytime, even though I _am_ an assassin. My interest in generosity has nothing to do with the job I follow, nor the business of the rest of those…streetwalkers."

Shenzein laughed amusedly, "Right, I get your point. No more questions. But let me just introduce myself. Name's Shenzein Zephyrthros, Shenzein for short. And my unconscious friend over there is Alyssa Quayshua."

"Nice to meet you, Shenzein Zephyrthros. My name's Anexia Kristos. Just call me Anne," came the reply, "Now about your friend…shouldn't you rest her on a much comfortable place, like on a bed for example?"

The sage gazed wryly at Alyssa, inwardly admitting his mistake there. He heaved himself up and bent down to lift the alchemist. "You coming?" he asked as he pushed the inn door open with his knee. The assassin nodded and followed him silently inside all the way to the alchemist's messy room.

"Now, what can you tell me about those beasts we encountered outside," Anexia asked casually when Alyssa was finally placed gently on the soft bed. The sage shrugged, "I was hoping _you_ could tell me about it. One moment I was happily drinking in this inn, the next, wham! Nightmares darken my day."

"Interesting…"

Shenzein looked at her curiously. What was up with this assassin? Suddenly, the sage regretted his invite to the room. Anexia glanced at him briefly. As if reading his mind, she said softly, "I am not here to fight you, Shenzein. I have my own reasons for finding the truth, just as you. We are both on the same mission here, you from the sage council, and me from the assassin clan."

The assassin stood up abruptly and headed for the door, stopping briefly and said, "I'll leave you two alone. When you are ready to talk, come downstairs to the inn. Oh, and bring your friend along with you. All of this has something to do with her as well…" And with that, she left the sage gaping at the open door.

"Alyssa has something to do with all this?" he asked himself silently as he stared at the sleeping figure. _This is not good. How did she know what I was to do? And what connection is there between the massacres and Alyssa? _Now_ what am I to do?_ He thought confusedly as he slouched on a nearby armchair. He stared at the open window moodily, wondering what in the name if Rune Midgard was going on. Suddenly he sighed. "Well, whatever questions I have can't be answered today. Might as well I get some rest while waiting for Sleeping Beauty over there to awaken," he said to himself, settling himself more comfortably on the armchair.


	9. Revelations

_A/N: Again, this is a slow update. My school studies are finally catching up on me and I'm quite busy these days._

_Tom Valor: Yeah, I realized about the battles as well. But I'm not really good at battles scenes, plus I'm usually writing my updates at about midnight now, even during weekdays, so it might not be good. Anyway, I'll try to make things better the next time_

_To Sky Mihalak: Lol, you bro's girlfriend? Haha, so sorry, I didn't know that :P Thanks for your vote of confidence!_

**Chapter 8: Revelations**

"So, you managed to get pass my pets, did you? Pity, if you had given your life to them, it would make things far easier for you and me."

The creature stared at the crystal orb broodingly for a moment. Suddenly, he smiled. He waved his bony hand momentarily at a spot chalked with blackened soot. A puff of violet steam hissed out that outlined a figure hazily. Gradually, the steam ceased and in front of the creature stood an assassin, his face hidden in the shadows.

The assassin knelt down and murmured, "You summoned for me, master?"

"Yes, yes," his master said vaguely, still staring penetratingly at the smoky crystal orb before continuing, "You seem to have acquaintance with that alchemist, the one with that absurdly long raven hair, Harck. I want you to find her, find her strength and weaknesses. _But you must not be seen_. Cloak yourself in the shadows, kill those in your way, but never reveal yourself to her, not just yet. I wish to know my rival before I vanquish her."

Harck's eyes widened slightly at the instruction but he bowed respectively and said, "As you wish, Master." He stood up and backed away slowly, heading towards the door.

"Oh, and one more thing…"

The assassin stopped in his tracks, his face bowed low, causing billows of dark-gray streaked hair to fall, hiding his face once more.

"Kill the wizard, no wait, the sage. Kill the young man with silver hair and azure eyes. He is with the alchemist you will be trailing."

Harck nodded once more and backed off. As he left the darkened room, he wondered how was he to kill the sage without Alyssa noticing anything. Then he shrugged.

"Ah well, I'll just do my best then. It's time to meet my beloved fiancée once more…"

* * *

_The air was thick with tension. Semi-nude bodies of dancers and female sages bedecked the bloodied halls of the church. They were all dead, fiery arrows pierced through their head and body, creating a reddish glow of light that emanates the dark halls._

_The knight looked around him feeling satisfied, the gory sight seems to satisfy his mood. Slowly, he walked towards the altar, his coal-black boots clunked heavily as he passed by countless of dead bodies from priests and their fledglings. Just before he reached the scarred altar, he stopped. Someone was behind him. The bloodied knight inhaled deeply, savoring the scent of tainted blood and hatred. Slowly, he turned around and smiled humorlessly at the unknown figure._

_"Should have known it was you. You never do know when to give up, do you?"_

_"You know I will never do…"_

_"Now why can't you face reality? These people," he indicated to the blood-drenched carcasses, "are meant to die, and you know it. Hatred and greed led them to death. Mistrust and deceit led them to their own doom, to their destiny. And I am merely here to…lead them."_

_"You will lead no more, traitorous knight! This time, your doom shall personally arrive to pick you up!"_

_The dark knight laughed softly. "My doom? My dear boy, you don't seem to realize one thing. I am, and forever will be, doomed," he said mockingly. He looked directly at the speaker, flicked his hand once, and stared penetratingly at the silver-haired sage in front of him._

_"But you, you will be doomed. Doomed by your own pride," he growled out as he prepared for an attack. He did not have to wait long. Angered by his words, the sage began to prepare for his own attack, his body radiating with power as surges of energy pooled in his hands._

_"Die, knight!" he snarled as he directed several energy balls at the motionless knight. Instead of avoiding it, the knight stood his ground as the hair-crackling bursts of energies targeted him. At the very last minute, he jerked his head suddenly and the energy balls whizzed past him, barely missing his ears. The altar exploded at the impact behind him. The knight ignored the flying bits of wood and looked at the sage._

_"That's the best you can do, squirt?"_

_The sage growled in anger and focused once more on a spell, his mouth uttering something unintelligible. He felt his hand growing warmer as he drained his energy from his body and redirected it into his palms. Concentrating in his mind, he envisioned holding several spheres of blue flames, spitting and hissing for all its worth. The knight watched the strange procession thoughtfully. His eyes widened with realization as the sage glared hatefully at the knight while raising both his flame-filled hands into midair._

_"Now, you shall die…"

* * *

_

"No!"

Alyssa thrashed on her bed for a few minutes before jerking up, her body drenched in her own sweat. Breathing heavily, she lifted her hand and clutched her damp forehead, as if trying to chase away the slideshow in her mind. "What's going on? Why am I having these dreams?" she whispered painfully, her heart still thumping heavily.

Someone stirred beside her. "Alyssa? You awake? Hell, what happened to you? You looked like you just saw a ghost!" Shenzein exclaimed as he caught sight of his friend's pale and sweaty face. Alyssa turned at him and smiled weakly.

"Nothing happened. Just a nightmare…" her voice trailed of unsteadily as she remembered the horrors in her dreams.

The sage stood up, groaning as he eased of a crick on his neck, and poured out a glass of water for her. "Want to talk about it?" he asked as he offered the glass of water to the alchemist. Alyssa accepted the glass gratefully and shook her head.

"It's okay, it's nothing at all. Just a silly dream," she said as she gulped down the cool liquid. Her insides churned as she realized that the sage in her dreams was no other than the one sitting next to her. Whether it was coincidence or destiny, she did not know. What she knew was she could not trust him any more than she could trust herself.

"Well, if you're okay…" Shenzein hesitated. The alchemist looked at him enquiringly.

"Think you're well enough to head downstairs? There's someone that wants to meet the both of us, beats me why though. Said she knew something about us. I wonder what she meant by that," he said thoughtfully as he eyed Alyssa.

She shrugged, her emotions in turmoil. Too many things are happening too soon. Wearily, she got up from her cozy bed. "What happened back there?" she asked as she got hold of a basin of water. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around her neck and began to wash her face as she waited for a reply.

"Dunno…A bunch of nightmares had suddenly decided to drop by to visit I guess. The reason why, I have no idea," came the cryptic reply. Alyssa wiped her face and looked quizzically at the sage.

"Hey, no need to get so worked up now. We'll find out why soon enough, I suppose. Now, get out from my room and wait for me outside while I get dressed."

The sage laughed ruefully. "You never will change, Lyss. Be quick, I'll be outside your room until you're done." He got up and headed towards the door.

As Shenzein waited for his friend, he began to ponder about the recent happenings. "Things are going too fast," he muttered, "Something's going on, I can feel it in my bones. But…what?" He suddenly remembered his former master's menacing words.

_"Do as you're told and no one will be hurt…"_

Was that merely a threat to frighten him those days? Or was it for real? He wondered. He heard the door creaking and he quickly erased his thoughts. Turning around, he faced the alchemist and beckoned her to follow him downstairs.

"What do you think we are about to find out, Shein?"

The sage shrugged. "Beats me. Answers, I hope."

They both went downstairs and headed towards the bar. Shenzein scanned the surroundings, trying to spot the blond assassin. He finally located her at the darkest corner table he had ever seen and ushered Alyssa towards there. The assassin heard their footsteps and looked up from her drink.

"So you're finally awake, Alyssa Quayshua," she smiled. She gestured them to have a sit. "Drinks? My treat," she offered as a waitress headed towards their way. The two friends smiled automatically and ordered their drinks as soon as the waitress arrived.

"Now, can we get to the bottom of this? I want to know what this hullabaloo is all about," asked Shenzein impatiently. Alyssa sighed at her friend's impatience and turned apologetically at the assassin.

"So sorry about my friend's rudeness. However, I would like to know the person I am talking to at the moment before anything else. It seems as if everyone knows me but not me knowing anybody."

The assassin gave a husky laugh. "Sorry, my name's Anexia Kristos. And you're Alyssa Quayshua, sister of Constance Quayshua."

The alchemist was taken aback. How did that assassin know who her sister was? She opened her mouth to voice out her question but before she could utter a single word, Shenzein interrupted her.

"Okay, Anexia. Can we _please_ figure out some answers here? You're keeping us in the dark and making me nuts waiting here!"

Alyssa glared at the sage. "Be polite, Shein!" she scolded as she poked his ribs. "What? I just want things to speed up a bit," retorted Shenzein as he rubbed his sore ribs. Anexia smiled at their antiques as she sipped on the murky liquid in her glass. After some time, she set her glass down quietly and spoke up, "Can I have a word in now?" The two of them stared at her, frozen midway in their gestures.

"Thanks for the moment of silence. Now, where shall I begin?"

"How about the Nightmare attack yesterday? Why was it that no one was there but you, me and Alyssa?"

"I can't tell you much about that, but I suspect that it was the doings of the Dark Master. My bet is that he's searching for either one of you."

"But why?" Alyssa interjected, "Why would he want anything to do with us? What did we do anyway? And who is this Dark Master?"

"Interesting…so you don't know who the Dark Master actually is? Odd, I should think you would know by now…" Anexia mused.

The alchemist stared at her. What was she trying to say? "Look, can you just get straight to the point already? No more riddles, please!" groused the sage impatiently.

"All right, all right. I'll tell you all that you should know. First of all, Alyssa, I want you to remember your past. Everything happening here today has many close connections with your life years ago. The Dark Master, who ordered for the death of your family, is Xanotheim Harlienne."

As soon as the name was mentioned, Alyssa felt an odd shiver running behind her back. Something about that name rings a bell…she thought, trying to remember why. But before she could think any further, Anexia continued her story.

"Xanothiem was a knight before he betrayed his own kin for vengeance. You see, according to legend, Xanothiem once had a sweetheart that he loved dearly. Rumor was that an assassin under the orders of his own family murdered his beloved. Maddened with grief, he couldn't bear the betrayal and soon turned into dark arts, swearing for vengeance before annihilating every single member of his kin. It was said, however, that one had survived this attack. Somehow this fortunate victim had managed to be revived by a priestess who had seen the attack. That priestess was Lysette Herr."

Alyssa started and stared at the assassin. Lysette? But…that was her mother's name. "What's the name of the survivor?" she asked tersely, her heart constricted painfully as she waited for the reply.

"Nexxon. Nexxon Quayshua Harlienne," came the soft reply as Anexia looked directly into Alyssa's eyes. The alchemist rested her back against the hard back of the chair, a powerful feeling washed against her. She wasn't sure if it was grief, anger, or betrayal. She continued to stare dumbly at Anexia.

Shenzein, who was rather quiet all this while, finally could not bear it any longer and blurted out, "Hang on, are you trying to tell me that Alyssa's somehow connected to the Dark Master?"

The assassin nodded her head grimly. "My guess would be that she'll be the next in line to receive the Dark Master's wrath, considering Constance is gone. Now, I'm not saying that she's gone forever; she might still be alive, if I'm not mistaken. Somehow, the assassins were unable to kill her. So my guess would be that your sister is in hiding for a while," she said gently as she patted the alchemist's hand compassionately.

"Wait a minute… '_An eye for an eye, blood with own blood, never shall they rise, forever shall it brood_'" the sage recited, trying to remember the exact words, "I read this somewhere when I was doing some research on the disappearance of King Tristan. These words were found written in blood on the walls of the king's chambers. Now, if what you said are true, then I'm afraid our beloved king is kidnapped by none other than Xanotheim!"

Anexia looked slightly confused. "But what does he want with the king?" she enquired, "I somehow doubt that he had anything to do with the Harlienne family feud."

Shenzein shrugged and replied, "How should I know. Maybe he's kidnapped the king so that he could be king himself. But let's put that aside first. Alyssa, are you okay?" He watched the white-faced alchemist anxiously.

Taking one quick look at Alyssa, the assassin stood up and said quietly, "Maybe we should continue this chat later. Why don't you get some rest first, Lyss. I know this could be hard for you, but I thought it would be wiser for me to tell you instead of you finding everything out yourself through the Dark Master himself."

Alyssa barely heard a word Anexia said. Her head was still swimming with confused emotions and questions. She remembered her flashbacks of her past. Could that voice actually belong to Xanotheim? Did her family really did order for the assassination of his sweetheart? And if so, why?

"I need to get out for a while," she muttered roughly as she pushed past the startled sage and assassin. She left the inn and strode forcefully at the pavement. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't care. Finally, she found a nice secluded spot under a shady tree and sat underneath it, hugging her knees tightly.

Alyssa stared blankly around for a moment, her mind still unable to discern the startling revelations Anexia had said. Suddenly, she gave a loud sob and buried her face at her knees, rivulets of tears streaming down her face. _Oh Constance, did you know about this all the while? Why didn't you tell me about anything? Oh please, please be safe!_ She cried silently, her petite frame shaking uncontrollably as she tried to control herself.

"Alyssa."

The alchemist didn't look up. She didn't have to. She already knew who it was. "Go away, Shein," she choked out, her face still covered. The sage stared at his friend for a while before kneeling down beside her. Gently, he sat by her side and hugged her compassionately, stroking her back while murmuring soothing sounds to calm her down.

Alyssa felt the warmth from the hug and gave another huge sob before throwing herself into Shenzein's arms. She continued to cry for a while; her grief was too great. To lose a sister was bad enough, but to learn about a terrible family secret was even worse. Shenzein continued to stroke the alchemist's hair, ignoring the fact that his clothes were getting soaked with salty tears.

Finally, Alyssa detangled herself from the sage's embrace. "Sorry about that," she hiccupped as she wiped the remaining tears away. Shenzein smiled gently as he raised her chin with his fingers. "No problem," he murmured. He produced a beige handkerchief from one of his pockets and wiped her tears gently.

"Hey, I know it's hard to cope right now. But trust me, everything will be fine. We'll find Constance together, no matter what. As for the Dark Master, he'll just have to get past me to find you!" he declared strongly.

Alyssa smiled weakly. "Thanks for everything, Shein. I just hope you're right," she sighed disconsolately.

"Come on, let's go on a joyride in this pathetic city. I think I have just the thing to cheer you up," said Shenzein, brushing away the sand from his clothes as he stood up. He stuck out a hand for the alchemist and pulled her up.

"It's okay, Shein. I think I just want to be alone for a while. Hope you don't mind," she said apologetically. Shenzein smiled ruefully and shook his head.

"Nah, it's okay. Just be safe, okay? And don't do anything silly," he said as he gave her one last hug. Turning around, he headed towards the Morrocan Library, looking back once only to find the alchemist looking wistfully at the open air. _I really hope she'll be fine, he thought, but I need to find out some stuff about Xanotheim Harlienne first. I thought I had seen that name before in the Book of History,_ Shenzein paused in right in front of the doors of the library.

"I hope I'm wrong…"


	10. The Exam

**Chapter 9: The Exam**

Someone was watching her.

Uneasily, Earilith looked behind more than once as she crossed the dark lane in the forest. "Damnation! Since when did this exams become harder than ever?" she muttered as she held her bow steady, her sharp eyes darting around as she tread carefully past the bushes.

"_Your first task is to prepare yourself for any unbecoming situations._"

A shrieking howl pierced the silenced air. Startled, Earilith mentally braced herself as she whirled around, her bow quivering with anticipation. "Oh man, not _you_ again," she groaned as an orc came lumbering towards her. Drawing out two arrows, she focused on the monster's heart and shot out with deadly aim. Surprised, the orc stared at the archer dumbly before crashing ungainly onto the ground.

Earilith smiled with satisfaction. "You don't seriously think I won't be prepared for another attack from you guys, do you?" she sneered lightly as she gave the corpse one last look before resuming her journey. Then she heard a rustle among the bushes on her right.

"Now what," she groaned, her right hand already beside her barrel of arrows. This time, she heard a deep grunt before something came crashing along the thick bushes. "What in the world-?" she gasped as another orc appeared in front of her. She glanced back at the corpse, disgusted.

"You just _have_ to bring your wide along now, do you?" the archer grumbled as she ducked the oncoming blow from the orc lady. As quick as thought, Earilith shifted her movement towards her right just before the monster dealt a blow on her. The axe narrowly missed her neck as it grazed lightly on her shoulder. Wincing slightly in pain, the archer grabbed her arrows and quickly directed it towards the monster.

The orc lady howled in anger as one of the arrows plunge into her waist. Working fast, Earilith quickly drew two more arrows and shoot them at it. Unfortunately, she had gotten in the way of the beast's axe. Droplets of blood splattered on the grass as Earilith bit her lip in pain. The axe had wounded her stomach badly. The orc lady did not even receive any major wounds on her body.

Grimly, the archer tried to ignore the stabbing pain and rained the monster with fiery arrows ceaselessly. The monster howled again and again as it tried to avoid the relentless fire elemental arrows. "Damn," she muttered angrily as she realized that her supply of arrows had just run out. At that moment, the orc lady recovered rapidly as she pulled out the arrows stuck on her body one by one. Taking one quick look at the monster, Earilith quickly step away cautiously from it and fled for safety.

"Running away is definitely not cool," she said to herself as she weaved in and out of the thick trees. Branches stuck out abominably, making it rather difficult for her to run swiftly. "Ouch," she cried repeatedly as dry, brittle branches poked her uncomfortably as she passed by them.

"_Your second task is to rely on instinct and common sense._"

Earilith stopped short. "Great, I'm lost," she said aloud disgustedly. She threw her bow down and began to pull the leaves stuck on her hair aggressively. Spotting a flowing river nearby, she headed there and scooped up some water to wash her muddied face. Then she took out a cloth from her waist pouch and wetted it thoroughly with the clear liquid. Gingerly, she placed the soaked cloth on her wound, wincing with pain as she did so.

"Stupid orc lady! Now I'll never reach the line in time!" she muttered as she eyed the surroundings methodically for herbs. Finally, she spotted some yellow leaves growing beneath the shade of a tree not far away. She got up slowly, wincing as she felt the pain stabbing at her stomach, and headed towards the leafy herbs. Carefully plucking a few leaves, she crushed them in her palm and placed them on the open wound.

"Ahh. That feels much better," she murmured in relief. Then, stooping down to collect her discarded bow, she checked her bearings.

"Hmm, from the looks of it, I'm way past south. Since I should be heading north, I should be going…that way," she mused as she stared thoughtfully at her surroundings. She soon started on her journey once more. She stopped a few times to recheck her bearings now and then. Satisfied that she was heading towards the right direction, she resumed her hastened pace hoping to reach the end of her exams in time.

"_Your third task is based on your knowledge on nature and understanding on animals._"

"Hey, what's that?" the archer exclaimed as she spotted something feathery huddled on the ground. She went towards it and bent down to examine the bundle of feathers.

"Why, it's a falcon!" she realized. The poor bird was injured; one of its wings was bleeding. Earilith hurriedly took out the remaining yellow herbs she plucked just now and crushed them before placing them gently on the injured falcon. Spotting a broad leaf nearby, she plucked it and wrapped it around the wing, using a short vine to tie it up neatly without cutting its blood circulation. Then, she picked up the injured falcon and cradled it in her arms.

"I'll take you along since I am heading to the hunter's guild. Perhaps they could find you your owner, even though he left you here wounded," she told the bird and resumed her pace.

Presently, she came to an open clearing. Just ahead, the path split up into two, each looked just like the other. Earilith stopped short. "Oh dear, which path am I to take now?" she despaired. There were no indications on which path she should take. She stepped a step on her left, then hesitated. Which path should she choose?

Suddenly, the falcon in her arms stirred and began pecking the archer gently on her arms. "Hey," she exclaimed, looking down at the bird. It kept on nibbling on her arm until it had gotten her full attention. Then, the bird flapped one of its wings.

"What are you trying to tell me, old thing?" she asked, stroking the bird. The falcon continued to flap its wings, as if trying to tell Earilith something. Puzzled, the archer glanced at the direction the wing was flapping at.

"Why, are you trying to tell me the right direction?" the delighted archer asked. As if understanding what she said, the injured falcon gave a loud reply. Earilith laughed and went to the right. It was only then that she noticed that the path she nearly took had a somewhat disgruntled atmosphere. Twigs were scattered everywhere and the grass looked as if it was trampled on a lot.

She glanced on the path she was on now. The road was clear of withered leaved and the grass was as green as ever. "Now I get it," she realized, "That road was taken by many archers before me. But why this road?" She mused and pondered for a while. Then she shrugged. "If it's what falcon here said, then I guess it's all right for me to take this path. After all, why bother taking what everyone else took? I bet this path would give me a better challenge. Hope you will be better, falcon," she told the bird, wagging her finger at it. The falcon cawed at her in reply.

So she continued her journey. "Ah drat, I'm running out of time," she muttered as she realized the sun was about to set. Quickening her pace, she weaved in and out in the forest, following the path as she went.

"Ouch! These leaves are prickly!" she cried as she passed by a prickly bush. The whole time she was journeying, her path was filled nothing but thick, dense forests; some so thick she could barely pass through. Still, they don't call it exams for nothing, thought Earilith grimly as she fended off some annoying leaves that were sticking on her hair.

After what seemed like ages, she finally reached the end of the forests. "Yes!" she exclaimed, her face turned upwards to embrace the cool air on her damp skin.

"Congratulation, Earilith Sensedriell. You have made it just in time."

Startled, the archer turned around and faced a male hunter smiling at her. She relaxed and smiled back in return. "Thanks. I found this falcon during my exams by the way. Any idea whose it might be?" she asked as she showed the injured falcon to him.

The examiner smiled again, "It's yours Ms. Sensedriell. You have proven that you are capable of understanding the importance of nature's lives, including this bird, by rescuing it from its near death."

"Mine?" she asked, amazed. She looked down at the bird and hugged it in delight. "Does this mean I passed the exams?" she asked. She knew that only qualified hunters and huntresses were allowed to rare falcons as their pets.

The hunter nodded his head and explained, "You were given three tasks during the test. The first was to test your ability to react sensibly under dangerous circumstances. The escapade with the orc lady was the test. You realized that you could not defeat the monster without any weapons in hand and you did not try to defeat it with your own bare hands. That was your ability to react on certain situations."

"Your second task was to rely solely on instinct as well as your common sense. You were injured and instead of trying to continue your journey in pain, you searched the area for medicinal herbs to aid you. That too, can help you a great deal in your journey. Your third and final task, on the other hand, tested you on your knowledge of nature and understanding towards animals, including the falcon you are carrying. When given two paths to choose from, you realized the difference of the two paths just before taking them. True, you did attain some help from the falcon, but it too shows that you were able to stop and try to understand the falcon. That, Ms. Sensedriell, is what a hunter should always do; communicating with their falcons."

Earilith looked amazed. "Wow, I didn't know those were part of the tests. I thought I was just asked to try and get past the forest before sunset," she said.

"That was the base idea. Most archers do not realize the importance of those three tasks that you have performed. A hunter, or a huntress in your case, should always be attuned to nature and its surroundings. Moreover, it is wise for one to keep a sensible mind even when one is forced to face difficult and dangerous situations. Remember that, Earilith Sensedriell, and you will be a great huntress," the hunter said.

He then produced the official uniform of a huntress and handed it to the delighted archer. "Wear it proud and keep our guild's reputation clean. Oh, and you should name your falcon too. It would be for the best," he said.

The archer, now huntress, smiled. "Thanks. I'll name this falcon Stigma. It'll remind me of the three tasks I had just performed anyway," she said laughingly.

The examiner smiled. "Very well then. Congratulations on your exams, Earilith Sensedriell. You are now officially a huntress from this day onwards!"

* * *

"Are you sure you did the right thing?" asked a voice quietly.

The blonde sighed. "I'm sure it is for the best, brother. There is nothing much we can do without her," she said softly. Anexia stood up and stared at her brother. She understood how he felt. Having carried a family burden since the age of ten can do strange things to one's emotions.

"But Anne, how can we be sure if the same thing doesn't happen again? How can we be sure that darkness will win…again?"

"I don't know, I just don't know. But we still have to take our chances with her. It's our only way out, don't you see? Remember mum's words? '_When dark falls on light, and light seeks the wielder, only one shall prevail, if one of each sticks together_'" quoted the assassin steadily.

The priest banged his hand on the wooden table nearby in frustration. "Look, for all we know, those words are crap! You don't even know what those words mean in the first place!" he scowled in frustration.

Gently, Anexia went up to her brother and hugged him. Then, drawing away, she reminded him, "True, but it's the only thing we have left to follow." She felt her brother's body go limp as the tenseness left his body. He sighed gustily as his arms fell limply to his sides.

"Yeah, I suppose it is, isn't it?" he said ironically, detangling himself from her. He looked outside through the murky window. Both the priest and the assassin were at a dilapidated room just a few blocks away from the inn the alchemist was staying. Although the place was in a mess, the assassin had assumed that the place was the best if they were to keep an eye on the raven-haired alchemist.

"I wonder how long are we to stay at this filth?" he mused aloud, still peering through the window, as though he expected a few wild beasts to suddenly rampage the streets. Anexia laughed at her brother's impatience. Still, it wasn't at all fun to stay with dirt and grime the whole day.

"Well, if you really do hate this filth, then I suggest we clear up this place to make it more…habitable. What do you say?" she suggested, a wide grin on her mouth. She knew her brother hated household chores more than anything else. She waited patiently for his reply as she watched him grimace and weighing the chances of living with filth and forcing himself to actually work for cleanliness.

"All right, I'll do it," he said finally, rolling up his sleeves decisively. Anexia smiled at his antiques. "Okay, deal with the dirt on the floor while I wipe the muck out from the walls," she ordered, placing her prized katars aside on a worn-out rocking chair nearby. And they spent the whole day clearing out the room…


	11. The Beginnings of War

_A/N: The chapter is finally done! Phew! This took me quite some time to finish, to be honest. Partly it's cause I'm pretty much tied up these days with my work, and partly it's cause I'm not so goodwith battle scenes sobAnyway,Hyuuga, the repetitions are actually flashbacks from the past, with more bits and pieces added into it, which is why it is essential for me to repeat it back once more. Imagine me trying to explain something out of the blue without anyhead or tail of a story! Wenzen, hope this is not too anticlimatic for you. Haha. Cursed-one and L.C. techno, thanks Anyway, hope you'll enjoy this update. Sorry if it does not meet up to your expectations, I'm really stuck at what to write next! > _

**Chapter 10: The Beginnings of War…**

It was daybreak when Alyssa finally entered her room. Wearily, she untied her cape and draped it carelessly on a chair nearby. Throwing her body on the neat bed, she stared above her blankly for a moment. "I am going to find you Constance, so please wait for me," she whispered tiredly as her vision became dark.

"_You mock me, puny sage! How dare you challenge the prowess and skill of a lord knight?"_

_Calmly, the sage watched the blood-drenched knight as he focused his energies into his hands. He said nothing at all, but smiled careless instead. This seemed to enrage the knight even more. He growled with anger and tried to charge towards the sage. But before he could move a step, he was flung backwards by an invisible force. He crashed against the blackened wall and fell into a crumpled heap among the rubble._

_Getting up slowly, he sputtered for a moment before spitting out blood. Rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand, he glared at the sage, somewhat surprised. "That is not the strength of a sage!" he muttered to himself._

"_You like that, _Lord Knight_?" the sage taunted. His arms were glowing in an unearthly blue aura and his eyes glittered dangerously. "That, was a particular skill I designed on my own, specially made just for you. You should be honored, since you are the first to actually witness it," he continued as the glowing blue motes danced merrily on his arms._

"_Why you-" the knight snarled and prepared to lunge again towards the sage. His eyes turned blood red and wisps of foam began to form at the edge of his mouth. The sage watched carefully at his opponent. Shaking his head, he muttered, "Berserk."_

_The silver-haired sage stood his ground, mentally preparing a few sigils in his sharpened mind. He concentrated on those few sigils for a few moments before staring hard in front of him, albeit where the lord knight was. He barked something out sharply and bursts of silvery white motes explode from his energized hands. In a blink of an eye, a thick, opaque mist surrounded a vast amount of area around the lord knight. _

_He laughed sardonically as he watched the expression on the lord knight's surprised and confused face. "You like it, knight? It a skill of mine I'd like to call the Wall of Fog. And guess what? I can see you, but you, oh you are definitely blinded within the fogs," he said. The sage closed his eyes momentarily, calling upon the powers of lightning to aid him. He felt his hands tingling with white-hot energy and smiled triumphantly. "Die, knight!" he snarled, raising his hands in a single, fluid motion. The knight froze within the depths of the fog. Out from nowhere, the thin, jagged strips of raw energy flew towards the knight, piercing through his black armor and killing him instantly._

_"You are never to rule Life again, Xanothiem Harlienne!"_

"_No!_"

Alyssa screamed as she sat upright with shock. She stared wildly around her, her nightmare still freshly imprinted in her mind. She took a few gulps of oxygen, willing her heartbeat to slow down a bit. It was only then she noticed she was drenched with her own sweat, and that her hands were shaking violently.

"This cannot be," she whispered brokenly to herself, placing her right hand flat on her forehead, as if to push away those horrible images. She finally know who she had dreamt about; her own uncle. The same uncle Anexia mentioned earlier. But who was the sage in her dreams? "He looked like Shein but that's impossible," she said to herself silently. Suddenly someone pounded urgently at the door, making the alchemist jump.

"Alyssa? Are you in there?"

The alchemist sighed. She knew that voice. It was Shein. "Go away, Shien," she called out grumpily. She wasn't in the mood to talk anyway. The hammering at the door increased. "Alyssa, I know you're in there. Open up, will you? We've got to go, _now_," shouted the sage behind the closed door urgently.

Frowning with surprise, Alyssa peeled herself from the bed and slowly went towards the door. Upon opening it, she nearly spouted a black eye as Shenzein was still hammering on. "Hey, watch out!" she exclaimed, ducking to avoid his blows. The sage stopped midair.

"Sorry," he apologized, "But we really have to go now."

"Why?"

"Uhh, in case you haven't notice, there's a large mob outside. And guess who are they after, _again_?"

_Uh-oh_, she groaned silently. "Fine, fine. Let me grab my cart and let's go!" she exclaimed. Then she noticed Shenzein was staring at her funnily. "What are you staring at?" she demanded. He broke out from his reverie and tried to reply normally, "Err, Lyss? You're all wet…"

Alyssa rolled her eyes. Sometimes, the sage was so dense. "Yeah, I know I'm wet. So if you'll just wait for me downstairs for me, I'll change into something drier, okay?" she said sarcastically, slamming the door at his face. She quickly stripped off her sodden clothes and rummaged her bag for fresh ones. Finally, she added a moon clip on her silky hair. "Just for good luck," she muttered to herself. Dumping the rest of her stuff into her cart, she opened the door and trundled downstairs.

But before she could reach the bottom steps, she heard a terrible commotion going on in the inn. "What in Rune-Midgard…?" she started to say in surprise. Suddenly a blue ball of flame came crashing towards her. Uttering a cry in surprise, she quickly dodged it, feeling the ends of her hair singed as the flame passed her.

"Alyssa, watch out!" cried a voice nearby. The alchemist whirled around to see who was shouting at her.

"Anexia?"

"Alyssa, follor my brother out from here! He'll teleport you to somewhere safer. Now go, hurry! We'll manage just fine here ourselves," the assassin shouted as she evaded a blow from what looked suspiciously like mysts, the lost souls of the fallen earth warriors in Glast Heim. She saw a priest beckoning her to follow and hurried by his side, still feeling rather confused. She heard the sound of metal clanging and grating all around her as veterans fought bravely against the monsters.

"Hurry, step into this portal! You should be safe in Juno for now. We'll meet up with you later," the priest said hurriedly, pushing the alchemist urgently towards the circle of white dancing motes.

"But what's happening?" she started to ask as he continued to push her towards the portal he had opened a few moments before.

"Go now, before it's too late!"

With that, he gave her one last push and quickly closed the portal before any monsters followed close. Astrexil then rushed towards her sister to aid her in her fights. Drawing the energy from the air and forming holy marks from it, he quickly transmit the holy energy he had just created into his sister's body. Almost immediately, Anexia's form became a blurry image as she attacked the remaining mysts.

"Thanks, bro! Go help Shein a bit there, will you? He's getting weaker and weaker," she called out gratefully and indicated towards the tired sage nearby. The sage alone, had to manage about three odd-looking witches that kept on attacking him with their brooms. They were bathories, former shamans from the dead city. Although they were only about two feet high, they could attack viciously with their brooms that they rode on and could resist magic well.

Quickly, the priest summoned up the holy energies once more and channeled it to Shenzein. Next, he concentrated on the flying witches while forming quick sigils in his mind, focusing the expanding energies that flowed in his veins to his hands. Then, without any warning, he lifted his arms and flung the holy lights towards them. Being more surprised than hurt, the bathories scattered, leaving the exhausted sage alone.

Shenzein looked up and smiled weakly. "Thanks," he said. Nodding, Astrexil stood next to him and sent a prayer of healing for Shenzein. The sage felt the holy magic coursing inside him, giving him a warm and fuzzy feeling of comfort. His energy was restored in a flash.

"Now come on, let's take Anne along and get out from here!"

The priest raced towards her sister, gesturing Shenzein to follow along. As he protected her, he grabbed Anexia's arm and literally dragged her towards a spot no monsters had mobbed yet. He hurriedly prepared a teleporting spell in his head as he pulled her there, the sage following closely behind as he sent fireballs towards the errant zombies now and then. Pretty soon, the spot was filled with white, dancing motes, indicating the portal that has been opened.

"Go, go! Alyssa's waiting there for us!" he shouted urgently, blasting a few zombies backwards. The priest pushed his sister into the portal and beckoned the sage to do the same urgently. Shenzein nodded and sent one last fireball towards a greenish undead, known as ghouls, before jumping straight into the circle of white motes. He vanished instantly just like the assassin. Without further ado, Astrexil went straight into the portal, quickly closing it as he felt his body being teleported to the city of knowledge.

The very first thing he saw when he reached his destination were stars that circle annoyingly around his head. Then he felt someone shaking him, like a smokie shaking a fish before devouring it.

"Trexxy, you okay?"

"Eh?" the priest mumbled blearily as he tried to refocus properly.

"_Trexxy_? You call him _Trexxy_?" he heard someone said unbelievingly. Shenzein, he presumed from the deep, masculine voice.

The assassin, who was shaking her brother to consciousness, laughed. "Yeah, couldn't say my baby brother's name properly when I was young, so the name Trexxy is stuck till now," she said.

"Can you guys stop talking for awhile and help me up?" Astrexil demanded wearily. After having to use so much energy for battles and supporting everyone else, he felt as though his body was boneless. In other words, he was dead exhausted. Anexia laughingly apologized and helped her brother up before propping him up against a study pillar nearby.

"There, rest while you can. We're going to need all the energy we have later," she said bossily. Then she turned towards the silent alchemist. "Are you okay, Lyss? You look rather pale," she asked concernedly. Alyssa looked at the assassin and smiled wanly.

"I'm fine, Anexia, just a bit confused. What happened back there?"

The assassin sighed.

"Well, it's not really hard to understand what's happening. The Dark Master found you and is now trying to kill you. Those creatures you saw back there were the fallen warriors of Glast Heim, and some were former prisoners from their dungeons, tortured to death and revived back to haunt the grounds of the once-mighty city. Judging from the creatures that tried to attack you, my bet would be that Dark Master is hiding somewhere within the walls of the castle in Glast Heim."

Shenzein spoke up, "So does that mean we're supposed to track down this evil jerk all the way to Glast Heim?" Anexia nodded her head grimly. She glanced at her brother, whom had closed his eyes facing upwards, as if to soak the serenity in the air into his tense body.

"You knew this would happen, don't you, Trexxy?" she asked softly.

The priest opened his eyes and looked directly at his sister, nodding slowly. "I suspected it was bound to happen," she responded quietly. Shenzein looked first at the priest then at the assassin with a confused expression on his face. "Huh?" he asked.

Astrexil looked at him and sighed. "Might as well tell them everything, Anne. Perhaps it would be for the best after all," he murmured, more to himself than to the rest. He gestured wearily to his sister to speak. Anexia looked sadly at her brother for a while before clearing her throat and faced the waiting alchemist and sage.

"Remember those stories I told you before, in the city of Morroc? Well, there is more where that came from. You see, Xanothiem Harlienne is, and will be your relative, but he is not your uncle."

Alyssa looked confused all over again. "Huh?"

"Let me put this is simpler terms; Xanothiem Harlienne is actually more than a thousand years old."

"_What_?"

"Yeah, he is. Shocked, aren't you? But that's just a small revelation. You see, when I told you your father managed to escape from his death, I did not tell you exactly _how_. Lysette was merely there to aid him all the way, but not defeating Xanothiem. Your father defeated him. When Xanothiem tracked down your father to the wilderness of Payon, he tried to kill him, but couldn't, because Nexxon Quayshua Harlienne was his great, great, great-grandson. Shocking, but true. Because of the blood that flows inside your father belongs to both Xanothien and his sweetheart, the Dark Master was unable to kill him like he did to the rest. Somehow, Nexxon had managed to sober Xanothiem and contain him in a tablet engraved with protective and binding runes, which was then placed in a secluded and secret cave so that no one would ever find it again. But now, someone _had_ found the tablet and released Xanothiem. And he is still bound to his revenge. This means he'll stop at no end to kill you, Lyss."

Alyssa shivered. This was too much for her. "That means I have the blood of Xanothiem Harlienne in me. I'm the kin of his kind. Will I be just like him?" she whispered to herself, unable to face anyone. She felt Shenzein wrapping his arms around her gently.

"You won't be just like him, Lyss," he said quietly, "You are you, Alyssa Quayshua, sister of Constance Quayshua. You are no Dark Master, nor will you ever be one."

Astrexil spoke up, "Yes, Alyssa. You are not him, because, unlike him, you could still choose right from wrong. Xanothiem had decided to throw away his future and family all for the sake of his love. Would you do the same? Would you try to destroy everything just because of your selfishness?"

He said the last few sentences harsher than he wanted. Alyssa shook her head violently and said unhappily, "I don't know, I just don't know!" The sage tightened his arms around her and said sharply to Astrexil, "Quit it, Astrexil! Stop confusing her!" The priest looked at him and sighed.

"Forgive me, Lyss. I'm being too harsh. Perhaps things are just meant to be…"

Anexia looked at the priest sharply and exclaimed sharply, "No, it isn't! Everything's going to be fine."

"Look, I don't know what the heck are you two babbling about, and personally, I don't even want to know. But can we please find a place to stay first? I don't think camping at the center stage arena suits my taste," Shenzein said impatiently, the alchemist still in his arms. Oddly, Alyssa did not seem to realize that she was still enveloped in Shenzein's arms, let alone felt anything. Her mind was still reeling from the new revelations Astrexil had told her.

The assassin now directed her gaze at the dumbstruck alchemist. "Hey, don't take it so bad, Lyss. Everything will be fine eventually," she said softly. Then, without waiting for a reply, she continued briskly, "Right, let's go find an inn to stay!"


	12. Shadow

_A/N: Chapter 11's finally here! Hehehe..sorry it had taken so long everyone. I just finished my biology assignment and it had taken me ages to finish! Anyway, my updates will be slower from now on. My teachers are really piling up tons of homework on me..Sigh...So sorry if the story's confusing, Hyuuga and Skye Mihalak. Ain't stories supposed to be confusing? Hehehehe..._

**Chapter 11: Shadow**

"There's still one thing I'm confused about."

Anexia looked up wearily, her tired face illuminated by the flickering flame from the candle. "What?" she asked doggedly. Her head felt heavy at the moment. Probably because she hadn't slept a wink all night, she conceded. She looked at the sage in front of her. He looked just as bad, she thought. Both of them had given up on a good night's rest, as they could not even take a break from their turbulent thoughts. Amazingly enough, Alyssa slept peacefully through her emotional breakdown.

"When you said that Nexxon was Xanothiem's great, great, great-grandson, how is that possible? I mean, didn't you say that Xanothiem had wiped out his clan? How did one survive until then?"

The assassin sighed and nodded her head once. "True, you should be suspicious about that…" she mused.

"Hmm, let's see, where should I start? Remember I had told you once that Xanothiem had a sweetheart that was assassinated by his own kin? Well, there was actually a story behind this. Sylvia, as she was known, was an assassin with a mysterious past. Xanothiem had found her half-dead deep within the Payon caves when he was undergoing intense training. He brought her home and treated her wounds tenderly, despite the strong objections from his family and relatives."

Anexia took a deep breath and continued, "Months later, Sylvia regained her strength and vigor. But that was not all she gained. Somehow, deep inside her cold heart, she found herself falling helplessly in love with Xanothiem. Yeah, this sure sounds cheesy, I know. But well, a fact's a fact. Anyway, somehow, a cousin of his, Kaelan, knew about her affections to Xanothiem, and, oddly enough, was jealous. It seems that Kaelan too, had an obsession over the assassin and hated his cousin under the assumption that Xanothiem was the barrier between him and Sylvia. I'm not going to bore you with the rest of the details. So to cut the story short, Kaelan spread poisonous rumors among the Harlienne clan about Sylvia being a dark agent of Death and whatnots. Fear and anger brought the Harlienne clan together to assassinate Sylvia without Xanothiem's knowledge."

"So then comes the part of story where you know, about how Xanothiem killed his clan, blah blah blah. But little did he know that Sylvia had given birth to a child before she was killed. Fearing her child's safety, she smuggled her son out from the village and handed him reluctantly to a trusted couple, the Quayshuas. And you can figure out what goes on next, don't you?"

Shenzein nodded his head slowly as his brain gears kick to action. "So that means Nexxon was the sole heir of the Harlienne clan, being that…his great, great-grandfather was the child Sylvia gave away?"

"Precisely. So now we can only assume that Xarlienne was woken from his tomb to find the last Harlienne in Rune-Midgard. Who woke him up, I am not so sure. But what I had managed to find out was this: Xanothiem Harlienne is now walking in Rune Midgard under the false pretense of a knight."

The suddenly she frowned, "No, wait a moment. That's not right. His clothes are not the same garments of any ordinary knight. He wears the mail garment unfamiliar to this city, but somehow it shows superiority and power. Odd, huh?"

"Just a question, Anne," asked the sage curiously, "How did you know all of this?"

"Simple. My family's ancestors helped Alyssa's ancestors when they were in trouble. Both sides vowed that whenever the opposite party is in trouble, help would be disposed to their service. I guess this time it was my brother and I," she replied.

Then, the assassin yawned. She stood up and picked up the candlestick. "Okay, enough for now. I desperately need to sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow so I advise you to have some shut eye as well," she said.

Shenzein sighed. She was right. He needed some rest, whether he liked it or not. Nodding his head, he stood up. After bidding Anexia good night, he went to his tiny room and closed his eyes, waiting for the heavy sense of sleepiness to overtake him. "It's going to be a long day…" he whispered to himself.

* * *

"Right, is everyone ready? We need to make a move."

Astrexil looked expectantly at the silent party. They were all gathered in front of the entrance of Juno, the city of knowledge. Astrexil had summed up a plan earlier that morning, and had decided to make a head start on their journey. The faster they reached Glast Heim, the better chances they would have from disrupting the peace that reign the kingdom.

"Why are we doing this again, Astrexil?" Shenzein yawned widely. Obviously, he did not get enough sleep that night. He looked at Anexia blearily. _She_ looked fine, he thought grumpily.

"We need to reach there as soon as possible. The faster we leave, the better chances we have that no chaos or unnecessary wars will break loose among the people," came the reply.

Shenzein sighed. This was not what he had in mind when he was elected to figure out the disappearance of King Tristan. But he had made a promise to his mentor, and he would not go back on his word.

They all picked up their belongings; Astrexil his backpack, Shenzein his old leather satchel, Anexia a small pouch containing necessary essentials, and Alyssa with her cart. Silently, they left the city and trudged along the wide expanse of the semi-barren land of Juno.

"Tell me why again we can't use Kapra's Teleportation?" complained Shenzein as, for the fifth time, Astrexil consulted his map. The priest looked up from his map and said rather crossly, "I told you once and I'll tell you one more time; the Dark Master knows how to trace our tracks if we use teleportation!"

Anexia sighed wearily and rubbed her neck ruefully. "Still, I wish we could find a faster way there. You are definitely _not_ a good map-reader. We've been circling around here for the past few hours!" she exclaimed. She stopped walking and took out a water pouch, unscrewed it and drank half of its contents in one large gulp. Capping back her water pouch, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve.

Then suddenly, her sixth sense quivered. She sensed someone was nearby. Someone that was not in their party. Casually, she glanced around, as though nothing happened, her sharp eyes noting every detail of the surroundings. Nothing. Only a few blobs of pink porings were seen roaming around merrily. But just as she was about to glance back at her own party members, she spied a flicker of shadow on her left. Though she wasn't so sure, she was certain that it was no shadow of any monsters living in the fields of Juno.

Slowly, she walked towards Astrexil, pretending to pass him something from a pouch. She whispered quietly but urgently, "Company." Astrexil looked startled but managed to tone down his surprise before it was obvious. He nodded cheerily at his sister and said aloud, "Well gang, I suppose we'll just have to camp a night here."

Alyssa and Shenzein groaned in unison. "I _knew_ we were lost!" exclaimed Shenzein exasperatedly. He flung down his satchel and sat on the rocky ground. But just as he was about to speak, he sensed something sinister as well. He looked questioningly at the assassin, as if to confirm his suspicions. She smiled and nodded her head, glancing at the silent alchemist staring blankly in front of her. Anexia was worried about her. She hadn't spoken a word since they left the city.

But this wasn't a good time to talk about all that. The eerie feeling of being followed was getting stronger and Anexia sensed someone was deliberately hiding from sight. Out of the blue, a ball of blue flame erupted from midair and circled lazily around them. The assassin glanced at her brother gratefully. Slipping her hands into her katars, she looked around rapidly for any signs of movement.

"Shadow."

Startled, Anexia looked at the alchemist in surprise. She received a bigger shock when an assassin suddenly materialized in front of Alyssa. The assassin was garbed with the typical clothes an assassin would own. But as she assessed him rapidly, she spied an unusual marking on his left arm. It looked like a cross between an eye and some rune symbols. As if noticing Anexia's scrutiny, the unknown assassin deliberately covered his arm with his tattered bandage-scarf that was hanging loosely from his shoulders.

Shadow smiled mockingly at Alyssa. "Hello again, my _dear_. Been up and early with your wee friends, I see," he noted sneeringly, glancing at each and every member of the alchemist's party. He noted the savage surprise expression of the sage, the tensed priest, and the watchful assassin.

"Who are you and what do you want?" came the savage question from Shenzein. Shadow raised his eyebrows. "Now why should a little, pathetic sissy ask a question like that I wonder?" he pretended to mused. The sage seethed and stared angrily at the mocking assassin.

"Enough!"

Both men stopped and stared at Alyssa. The alchemist ignored Shenzein and walked to Shadow, facing him squarely eye to eye. "What do you want now?" she asked quietly, ignoring the amazed and shocked looks of her friends.

Shadow smiled again. "You're not in the position to ask me that, my dear, remember?" he said mockingly. He watched as she fought to control her composure, her body shaking unmistakably with anger. He thought she looked more endearing than ever as blood rushed to her face, making her look as though she was somewhat drunk.

"Leave, Shadow. Unless you are here to assassinate me, again?"

"Actually, that _is_ what I plan to do. I serve only to the Dark Master now, and he has plans for you, sweetheart. As for the rest, they'll be minced meat for the pecos by the time I'm not with them."

Anexia tightened her grip on her katars and advanced menacingly. "Why you-" She dashed forward, hoping to catch him off guard by sidestepping him at the very last minute. Shadow remained rooted at his spot, unmoving as he watched the blurred outline of the female assassin heading towards him. Then at the very last second, his own figure blurred as he sidestepped Anexia's attack seamlessly and stood behind her.

"What the-"

Anexia stared at him in shock. She never misses her target, not once. And even if they did, a series of cuts and scratches would be evident on her opponent's skin. But this guy…he was fast, she had to admit.

"Is that all you can do, sin? What _do_ they teach you in that guild of yours nowadays, anyway? The dexterity of an assassin is seriously lacking," he mocked. Then he turned to Alyssa. "I'm not in the mood for killing today anyway. Lyss, for the last time, give up what belongs to Dark Master, _now_!" he said threateningly, his face suddenly dead serious once more.

Alyssa looked at him defiantly. "What makes you think I have them? And even if I do, what makes you think I'm going to give it to you?" she shot back tersely.

"Because…"

Shadow suddenly moved from his spot. Realizing this, Alyssa too moved quickly, abandoning her cart. Just in time too, as Shadow stopped right where the alchemist had been a while ago. Alyssa smiled grimly and took her trusty fire-encrusted axe out.

"You want a fight, you'll get one!" said Alyssa, her eyes boring gimlets into the assassin.

Shadow merely smiled mockingly and slipped his hands into his katars. Once more, Anexia noticed something odd about the stranger. His katars were not like the ordinary ones an assassin would use. Instead of a long, sharp blade, the katar had _three_ blades, shaped like the sharpest arrowhead one could imagine. Even odder still, the katar was glowing in an unearthly color, making it almost unreal and dangerous.

Just as she was about to say something to her brother, Shadow disappeared. Everyone but Alyssa looked around with surprise and confusion. The alchemist, however, merely tightened her grip on her axe. The next instant, Alyssa too, disappeared.

"What's going on?" Shenzein asked in confusion. "Where's Alyssa?"

Both Anexia and her brother shook her head and shrugged. They were both confused as well. A sudden sound of clashing metals from behind brought them to attention. Turning around, Shenzein swallowed an exclamation as he watched his friend battled the assassin.

Alyssa gritted her teeth. Shadow was getting stronger, no doubt about that. She ducked as he punched his hand forward towards her chest, readying herself for a counter attack. Before Shadow could pull his hand back, Alyssa swung her axe with all her might towards his waist. Drops of blood splattered on the ground as Shadow tried to avoid the blow, and nearly did. He clutched his injured side, grimacing in pain.

But injured as he is, Shadow retaliated by trying to stab her unawares. He moved left and right until only his outline could be seen. Alyssa's eyes darted here and there, as if concentrating on his movement. Then suddenly, she muttered something and threw out a bottle filled with acid green liquid. The bottle broke as soon as it touched the ground and its contents splashed everywhere, quickly forming a greenish mist.

She waited for a few seconds, as if she expected something from her actions. She was not let down; Shadow emerged from the thick mist, his skin looked red, as if scalded.

"You've become stronger, Lyss, no doubt about that!"

The alchemist smiled grimly. "I'm not as weak as you once knew, you know," she hissed. She charged forward, mentally summing the golden energy every merchant had with them and infused it with her own strength. Feeling the powerful surge flowing inside her, she concentrated on her weapon, aiming deadly on the assassin's heart. As if realizing what was happening, Shadow quickly swerved to the left, his right arm slashed deeply as he avoided the powerful blow.

He now realized that he was fighting a losing battle. But he grimly carried on fighting. He would not let his master down. He took out a small vial of clear liquid and broke the glass. He poured the liquid onto his katars and threw the broken vial away. He concentrated momentarily on his weapon. As he watched, his katars began to vibrate and changed color. The next instant, his blades had changed color from raven black to a deep violet.

Shadow smiled in satisfaction and returned to his fighting stance. "Come and get me," he taunted at the alchemist. Gritting her teeth, Alyssa gripped her axe tightly once more but this time she took her time. Then suddenly she stopped. She stuck her axe on the ground.

"What-"

As Shenzein watched in amazement, Alyssa produced two small daggers from her cloak. _When did she have those?_ He wondered. Alyssa picked up a relaxed pose and watched her opponent calmly.

Shadow laughed.

"So, you are still more familiar with those two blades, are you? Some things never change…"

"Shut up and attack, you dolt!"

The situation became serious once more and both sides stood grimly, watching each other's every moves. Shadow was the first to move, his arms purposely widespread. He growled out a war cry and charged towards Alyssa. The alchemist dodged easily, her heavy axe did not hamper her moves anymore. She extended out an arm, her hand readying an attack.

The assassin slashed forward, aiming directly at her torso. But she managed to counter attack his blow by using her right dagger to defend and her left dagger to deal a deep cut on his arm. Both were flung back from the force of the attack.

Now tattered and bloodied, Shadow eyed Alyssa grimly. She had grown stronger than he had ever imagined. He doubted if he could ever stop her right now even if he wanted to. Even now, he was badly injured and was in serious need of a blood infusion, whilst she, she did not even have a scratch on her body.

"Giving up so soon, Shadow? That is not your style at all," Alyssa taunted.

The assassin looked at her beadily. Then suddenly he laughed.

"Ah, but I would love to fight with you. But I'll have to skip this one out, my dear sweetheart. Duty calls, darling!"

He mockingly saluted the silent group and mimicked a flying kiss to Alyssa before leaping up and…_disappeared_?

Alyssa stared at the spot Shadow was just now, her blood still boiling with anger. He knew she hated being called his 'dear sweetheart'. She shifted her glance to the rest of her friends. They were staring at her now. She sighed. More explanation. Great. She turned and faced directly at the rest of the party.

"So, are we going to start our campfire or not?"

* * *

Surprisingly, everything turned out fine later on. There were no more sudden, stealthy attacks, no more surprises. The fire crackled merrily and huge chunks of roasted peco meats were passed around.

"So, Lyss…how did you know, uh, Shadow?" asked Shenzein tentatively as he tore a chunk of meat with his teeth. He chewed slowly as he waited for an answer. Alyssa stared deeply at the bright-red fire. She sighed.

"I knew this would come up," she muttered more to herself than to the rest. She looked up to Shenzein.

"Shadow was once my fiancée," she said quietly.

The sage stared at her, not believing his ears. Without realizing it, the meat he was holding slipped past his nerveless fingers. Her _fiancée_? Dimly, he heard Anexia and Astrexil gasped in surprise as well. He felt a painful stab at his heart. He couldn't believe Alyssa could even think of accepting that bastard as a good soul mate.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's hard to believe that that two-timing piece of crap was a guy I nearly vowed to spend the rest of my life with. Truth is, I don't even know why I agreed to be his fiancée in the first place," Alyssa grimaced.

"So why did you?" asked Anexia curiously. It was the first time she had seen the alchemist so fired up about something. She had been nothing but a wet towel the whole time; always moping around.

Alyssa looked at her and smiled sadly.

"You don't know how it was, Anne," she said quietly, "After Shein left for his training, I became wild and unmanageable. When I had turned eighteen, I ran away from home. Yeah, Shein, I did. Surprisingly, it felt good. For the first time, I could do whatever I want, wherever I want, without having everyone else pointing fingers at me, staring at me. Why? Because my sister's in the Pronteran Army, and I am not, that's why. I had to live up to people's expectations and live under her shadow as well. Oh, you have no idea how it hurts to be reprimanded at every single tiny mistake. 'Why can't you be more like your sister, Alyssa?' or 'Stop fooling around Alyssa! You should be more like your sister.' Each and every time I did a small mistake, everyone would say that. And I hated it!"

She stared into the flames once more, watching the red fingers licking merrily at the brittle wood. She continued, "When I left Constance, the first place I went was Morroc. I have no idea why I chose that place, but I suppose I guessed that Constance could not find me there. After all, she had no connections there. Or at least, she hadn't any at that time. Anyway, when I reached Morroc, I was starved and defiant. I refused to accept any help at all, not even from a city guard there, who thought I was lost. But being a merchant as I am, I didn't know how to fend myself in the city of thieves. No one would come and buy my wares and I had to fend off thieves that tried to steal my items. It all changed one day, however."

Alyssa took a deep breath and went on, "I first met Shadow when I was selling my wares as usual. Even then, my senses had sharpened to pinpoints that I could tell when a thief decides to help himself on my wares. No surprise, I caught him stealing. We fought for what seemed like ages, neither one of us wanted to back down. And, when we were both exhausted, we would roll about on the deserted ground, ignoring each other. Funnily enough, Shadow seemed to think this as amusing and would set off irritating me each and everyday. But all of those had its good sides. No thieves had ever dared to pick on me again. I suspect it's cause Shadow was like a leader to them; feared and respected. Anyway, he had taught me the basics of survival in that city, not to mention a few lessons on managing those daggers thieves usually use. Which is why I could handle those weapons rather easily just now. Pity he underestimated me on my moves and strength. That will always be his flaw, overconfidence. Anyway, after the incident, I got to know him better. That was also the time when I had gotten more trouble than I had ever had in my entire life."

"Shadow," she said bitterly, "was never content with his life. He wrestled through obstacles recklessly, and he brings the consequences to me. Being a stupid naïve as I am, I didn't care much about it. To me, it was all just a part of a wild game. When he proposed, I accepted, thinking that he had, at last, learnt to love me as I had once loved him. But it was all just a lie. Turned out that Shadow merely wanted me to get closer to my darling sister. It seems that Shadow had made a deal, with the Dark Master, as I now presume, regarding Constance. His task was to divulge into my sister's life and find out what is important to her and all. He nearly fooled me for that one. I found out by accident about his plans when I was heading towards his room. His door was slightly ajar and I overheard him talking to some unknown stranger about it. When I confronted him about this, he merely laughed and said, 'Yeah, that's right sweetheart. You're the candy of my eye, but your sister is the prize here, babe.' I could never forget his words. Never. After that, I threw him out, fought with him even, and went back to my sister. I told her the truth and she forgave me, thank heavens to that."

The alchemist stopped and stared at the inky darkness, determinedly blinking back her tears. She didn't even look at her friends.

Shenzein took a deep, shaky breath. This was all so alien to him. He couldn't believe she had changed so much since he left her. Suddenly, he felt horribly guilty for leaving her alone back then. If only he hadn't do so…

"So what now?"

Alyssa stared at Astrexil, her eyes still brimming with tears. "_What_ what now?" she snapped. Angrily, she dashed away her tears with the back of her hand. Anexia too, looked at her brother with surprise.

"I mean, what are you doing to do about it? It seems to me that you do have a connection somewhat with that assassin sent by Dark Master himself. Would it affect your battle? Would it disturb your clairvoyance?" he explained.

The alchemist stiffened. "I can assure you, Astrexil Kristos, that my previous relationship with Shadow would not affect me at all, mentally or otherwise. As far as I am concerned, Shadow is dead to me," she gritted out. Picking up a piece of brittle firewood, she flung it into the roaring fire and watched as it was charred into ashes.

The priest nodded. "I'm sorry if I sound harsh, but I just had to know. Nothing should affect our judgment when it comes to good and evil. Especially not emotions," he added.

"Hey, Trexxy, why not let it be at this moment?" challenged Shenzein angrily. He could see that Alyssa was getting both distressed and angry at the same time. He glared at Astrexil.

The priest shrugged wearily. "Don't think of me as the bad guy, Shein. I'm just trying to do what is right here. I just don't want Alyssa to have any emotional conflict if we are forced to meet Shadow again in a battle to death."

Alyssa took a deep and calming breath. "I understand, Astrexil. I really do. But bear in mind that no matter what happens, I will only have one thing in my mind, and that is to save my sister. Even if you yourself turned evil at that time, I would kill you if I have to," she said quietly, looking at the priest directly at his eyes.

The priest nodded, as if satisfied. Then he got up. "It's getting late. Get some rest, everyone. I'll build a wall of protection around us just in case. Just make sure no one leaves this circle," he said. Astrexil walked around the campsite a few rounds, muttering and marking sigils into the air. Presently, a faint glow could be seen surrounding the campsite. Satisfied, Astrexil went to join the others for a good night sleep. They all felt somewhat protected and safe within the boundaries of the wall.

Little did they know trouble was heading their way…


	13. What Are We Going To Do Now?

_A/N: Finally! The update's done! Muahahaha...too much work here! > _

**Chapter 12:What Are We Going To Do Now?**

Shenzein was the first to wake up. He sat upright and pondered for a while what woke him up. Then he heard a soft rustling noise just among the leafy greens nearby. Cautiously, he inched his hand closer to his staff, his eyes growing accustomed to the darkness. He tried to see who was the intruder, whether it was an enemy or otherwise. Unfortunately, the darkness was overwhelming as the fire had died out and he couldn't even see the outline of the unknown creature.

The sage thought quickly. He could take his chances with whatever that was, or he could wake up the others. He looked at the sleeping faces of his friends and made up his mind almost instantly. Grabbing his staff, he stood up cautiously, conjuring up a small fireball to light up the area. The fireball danced around him merrily and Shenzein made his way towards the bushes as quietly as possible.

He knew that the light would give him away but he had no choice. It was better to get a clearer view rather than to be attacked against his advantage. The rustling increased. Shenzein stopped at his tracks. Quickly preparing a fire spell in his mind, he raised his wand and aimed it directly at the bushes.

"_Fire mists_," he chanted softly, feeling the familiar surge of energy coursing in his body as he stared at the rustling bushes. Tiny motes of red soon began to form at the tip of his staff. The sage concentrated on the bush and directed the glowing motes towards it, straining to control the motes from being too dangerous. He planned to merely frighten whatever was within the bushes without harming it, for he still wasn't sure whether the intruder was on their side or not.

He needn't worry about that.

Just then he heard a loud raucous howl from behind him. Startled, Shenzein lost concentration on his spell. The spell was broken but the motes continued to burn the bush happily. Anexia was the next to awaken, her sharp senses alert almost immediately. She took a quick look at the sage and grabbed her katars without a word.

"Wake up, Trexxy! It seems that we have company…"

The priest jolted upright and stared blankly at his sister momentarily. Then, as if realizing the current situation, he quickly stood up and blessed everyone with agility, defense and protection. Alyssa, however, was still in deep slumber.

"Alyssa, wake up!"

Unfortunately, Alyssa slept peacefully, oblivious of the trouble brewing right under their noses. Shenzein uttered an explosive sound and ran towards her. He stabbed his staff on the rocky ground and muttered a few words quickly. A faint blue sphere formed around the sage and the alchemist, protecting them both from the dangers yet to come. Then Shenzein stepped out, careful of not breaking the safety circle around Alyssa.

Then he looked at Anexia grimly. The growls were coming closer. Any moment now, and they would soon find out what made those noises. He was not disappointed. Just a few moments after he left Alyssa in the protective circle, a few snarling wolves appeared. Most unusually, these beasts were horrifyingly twice larger than the ordinary size.

Astrexil immediately casted protective spells on all of them, blessing them with the agility of the wind, strength of a giant, and heightened their sense of defense. Anexia gripped her katars tightly and assessed the situation calmly. She glanced at the sage. As if communicating through their minds, they nodded grimly and readied themselves for an attack. The first wolf, still growling deep in its throat, stepped forward and lunged towards Anexia, its jaws wide open.

The wolf bared its teeth, its saliva flecking on the assassin's face. Grimacing, she steadied her stance and calmly calculated the distance between the beast and herself. Teeth baring, the wolf leaped on Anexia, targeting her throat. But just before he closed his jaws on her throat, the assassin moved her head and ducked its attack, her katars moving in a graceful motion against its chest, causing a gaping hole there. The beast did not even flinch as it fell down, dead.

Another two wolves leaped up and bared their teeth to Anexia. One of them dashed suddenly towards her, its sharp teeth gleaming against the moonlight. She merely tightened her grip and stood there like a statue, moving at the very last minute. Streaks of silver shone as she slashed the wolf heavily on its chest, her left hand making a horizontal motion against its neck. The second wolf leapt into action. Instead of rushing headlong towards Anexia, it swerved on her right at the very last minute, avoiding her deadly movements and wounding her by the waist at the same time.

Anexia's face contorted in pain as she struggled to ignore the stabbing pains from the deep gash on her waist. She glared at the wolf and moved swiftly, ignorant to the flying drops of blood splattering everywhere. Thank goodness for the swift agility her brother has blessed her a while ago. She deftly avoided the harsh blow of fur and claws of the wolf and stretched out her hand, the blade moving swiftly creating gashes of red on its body. Then she herself summoned up her strength and controlled her body weight as she concentrated on her final and deadly blow. The wolf howled before stopping short in surprise. The assassin's blow had hit the target, killing the sounds of the beast almost immediately.

Meanwhile, Shenzein had some difficulty fending off four wolves at the same time. He had managed to cast off one wolf by turning it into a charred mess, but they just kept on coming and coming. Grimly, he eyed the creatures beadily as he quickly conjured up a spell in his mind. He raised a hand, palm forward, and shouted out, "_Firefly Demon!_" He felt the hot rush of wind as the energy contracted forming bursts of flames shaped like insects with razor sharp 'pincers'.

The howls of pain mingled with the sharp outbursts of crackling flames filled the air. The wolves jumped crazily around as sparks of fire licked their way on their furry backs. Without a second glance, Shenzein raised both hand upwards, holding his staff erected and concentrated hard on the spot where the wolves were. A reddish mist began to form as he watched before bursting into tall flames. The wolves howled even more and tried to escape from there, but the sage had placed a sticky spell on them that they could not even move a single large paw. He watched for a few moments as the wolves tried in vain to escape their fiery death.

"Shenzein, look out!"

Startled, the sage whirled backwards, only to be knocked down by something furry and huge. Reacting instinctively, he cast a defensive shield on himself. The force of the shield glowed brightly for a moment as it threw the creature off. Standing up, Shenzein glanced at the thing that had tried to attack him, and received an ugly shock. The thing was a wolf, and yet it was different from the rest of the pack attacking the veterans. One eye bore a red, ugly scar, causing its vision to be partially impaired. Its teeth gleamed eerily against the moonlight glow. Fur bristling like ten wolves combined, it was no other than the leader of the pack; Vagabond.

"Damn it, why do I get the hard one?"

Shenzein quickly readied himself for an attack, thrusting his staff in front of him to cast another spell. As if realizing the sage's intention, Vagabond lifted its head and gave a loud piercing howl.

"Aaaah-"

The sage dropped his staff and closed his ears. The howl was dreadful. It pierced through his concentration and is now disrupting his thoughts. Not to mention that that howl made him feel that his eardrums were about to split. Dimly, he could see that Anexia and her brother too dropped on the ground, their heads down as they too, tried to block their ears from the dreadful noise.

"_Silence._"

The leader of the wolves stopped abruptly, and turned its mighty head towards the alchemist. Shenzein too, looked at Alyssa weakly. His vision was already dimming due to the piercing noise. "A-Alyssa…" he said weakly. Then he stopped. That was not Alyssa. The Alyssa he knew would not emit a glowing red aura around her. The Alyssa he knew would not have hands that glowed with dark energy forces.

"_Vagabond…_"

Vagabond stood still, its eyes still fixed on Alyssa. The alchemist continued to gaze at the mighty wolf, and drifted across the camp towards it. She's not even _walking_, Shenzein realized in shock. Her feet were not touching the ground. Instead, she floated oddly a few breaths from the rocky surface, her bloody aura emanating the whole campsite.

"_I saved your life once and you had save mine. Leave these people alone. Join me._"

Alyssa raised her left hand, palm forward. Her hand glowed even stronger, the dark motes danced rapidly around it. Then suddenly, a small circle of white light formed in the midst of the motes. As the others watched in amazement, the light grew brighter, and the Vagabond sat firmly on the ground, as if waiting for something. Then the massive wolf did something unexpected. It stood up, stretched itself, and jumped straight towards the open palm. There was a burst of light that blinded the veterans temporarily and the beast was gone.

Anexia rubbed her eyes disbelievingly. Where did Vagabond go? She looked around her wonderingly. Both Shenzein and Astrexil were unconscious, probably from the strength wasted and the burst of light a while ago, she supposed. Then a small sound made her turn around. She was just in time to watch the bloodied aura emanating from the alchemist to extinguish, and that she fell onto the hard ground with a bump.

"Alyssa!"

Anexia tried to get up, but ended up wincing in pain. She stared at her hand, stained with her own red liquid. The wound on her waist was killing her. Large gongs were sounding off in her head, making the world spinning. Grimly, she looked back at Alyssa, and was somewhat relieved that _she_ was actually still resting peacefully.

"Shein, Trexxy, wake up! Wake up!" the assassin said pleadingly, unable to move. She looked back and forth between the two unconscious men, praying that they would open their eyes. Finally, after what seemed like eons, Shenzein blinked and sat up groggily.

"Eh, what happened?" he groaned, rubbing his sore head. He felt a huge lump there. _Great, I'm going to have a killer headache from that_, he thought dazedly. He stared around blankly for a moment, trying to digest the current situation. Then he remembered.

"Oh damn! Where's Alyssa?" he demanded before spotting her nearby.

"Alyssa!"

"She's all right, Shein," said Anexia wearily. The loss of blood was making her weak and dizzy. "She's still sleeping as a matter of fact," she continued, "But would you mind waking up my brother, please? I need him to check my bloodied waist here."

The sage nodded and semi-roughly shook Astrexil awake. The priest awoke with an abrupt jerk. Like Sheinzein, he looked around once and focused his eyes on his sister. In a thrice, he was next to her, tending on her gaping wound. Anexia exhaled in relief. At least the wound was not stabbing her with pains anymore, or rather it lessened drastically. She looked at her brother gratefully before turning to Shezein.

"Shein, think you could carry Alyssa to her sleeping bag? We'll discuss about this in the morning."

Again, Shenzein nodded and went to the sleeping alchemist. As he carried her, he gazed fondly on her peaceful face. How can such a strong character possess such dark powers, he wondered. Then he sighed. Whatever it was, it was bound to appear again, and this was not the time to think.

He gently lowered the alchemist into her sleeping bag and covered her with a woolen blanket. Then he went towards Anexia and Astrexil, who were beside the fire discussing in low voices.

"So what do you think happened," questioned Shenzein as he sat cross-leg beside the priest. Anexia shook her head, bewildered. "I'm not sure, I haven't seen anything like this before," she replied. Then she glanced at her brother and said, "You know something, don't you, Trexxy? I can sense it."

Astrexil sighed, his weary face illuminated against the flickering flames. "I can't say I know for sure what had happened back then, but I can't say I didn't guess what was happening. I only hope that I'm wrong…" his voice trailed off as he stared hard into the flames.

"_What_ is it?" asked Anexia exasperatedly. There were times she felt like strangling her brother for playing word games with her. She hated it when he twists his words at times like this.

The priest looked directly at his sister, and glanced briefly at Shenzein before continuing, "That was the power of a goddess. A goddess also known as Hel, who rules one of the nine worlds in Hell. I'm not sure what does this have to do with Alyssa, but from what I can tell is that if we don't save Alyssa from the goddess' clutches, she will never be the same…forever."

Shocked to numbness, Shenzein could only stare at Astrexil with his mouth open. Anexia felt a surge of emotions clogging up her throat. There was a moment of silence. Finally, Anexia cleared her throat and said forcefully, "Well, I don't care. Alyssa's our friend and I vote we should do something about it!" She looked at her brother defiantly.

"I agree with Anexia, we should do something!" Shenzein voiced out his agreement.

Astrexil looked at both of them, inwardly marveling their strength and courage. Outward, he shook his head sadly and said, "It cannot be done. Alyssa must fight this battle alone and none of us can intefere. The goddess chose her and her alone. So if Alyssa doesn't want her, she would have to fight for her own freedom."

Shenzein banged his knee in frustration. "There must be something we can do!"

Again, the priest shook his head. "I'm afraid not, my friend. This is not our battle to fight," he said softly. Suddenly Anexia looked up

"Trexxy, how _did_ you know that it would be a goddess inside Alyssa? How sure are you that it isn't something else?"

"I'm not sure, Anexia. But I had read somewhere about Hel and the powers she possessed. You saw what Alyssa did to Vagabond. He didn't just merely _disappear_, Anne. He went willingly to Alyssa to be her pet."

"_What_? You mean that Alyssa actually _tamed_ that beast into a pet? Impossible!"

"It is possible, but not for a mere being I'm afraid. Those made me wonder about the reincarnation of the goddess in the first place."

There was another moment of silence. Each of them was lost in their own turbulent thoughts. All of them had the same troubled question: What are they going to do now?

* * *

_A/N: I made up a few skills of my own here. Notice that I made the character shout out the spells, but it's only temporary. Later on I'll just go one without the usual spell-shouting/casting...hehehehe..This update is a bit weird cause I was soo sleepy when I wrote this up!_


	14. What Are You Protecting me From?

A/N: This will be my last update until June cause I'm having my mid-year exams throughout the month of May.

Tom Valor: Thanks for the compliment. I'm glad too that I can make full use of the critisms involved. It's always best to refer to critics (Good and logical ones i meant!) to polish up a story )

Happy reading!

**Chapter 13: What Are You Protecting Me From?**

_"Alyssa…"_

_Startled, the alchemist spun back. She wondered where she was and who called her. There was absolutely nothing around her but darkness, and a spot of light on where she was standing, indicating a yellow, worn out path she was stepping on._

_"Who's there?" she called out, looking in vain for the speaker._

_"Alyssa…"_

_This time the voice came from behind her. Again, Alyssa spun around. No one. "Oi, stop playing games! Show your face, whoever you are!" she shouted out loud, her heart hammering fast. Oddly, she did not even felt a single twinge of fear in her chest. All she could think of was her anger with Shadow, and how he always found a way to destroy her path._

_"Are you afraid, Alyssa…?"_

_"No, I'm not afraid! I'm mad with anger. And I want to know who am I talking to, now!"_

_She heard a soft chuckle nearby. Again, her head turned, trying in vain to figure out the location of the unknown stranger. She balled her fists in frustration. This was getting her nowhere._

_"I admire your courage, Alyssa. You show great courage even though your prospect is indeterminable. Very well, I shall grant you your wish."_

_Thick swirling clouds of lavender motes erupted suddenly in front of the alchemist, causing her to take a step backwards cautiously. She could barely see anything in front of her, even though she squinted her eyes. Gradually, the motes disappeared, leaving behind a dazzling figure. Alyssa closed her eyes momentarily to adjust her eyesight and opened them again. She stared at the person in front of her._

_She was beautiful._

_Her silvery blonde hair fell till her waist, creating an aura of radiance that illuminated the darkness. Her eyes were fierce, but Alyssa sensed that there was wisdom and cautious in them. Her lips was full, but was set into a stern line at the moment. And her garment was one that Alyssa could not even describe, for it not only radiates power, it was also the handsomest set of armor she had ever seen. Bronze plates were her chest armor, with intricate designs that covered them. The lady wore pants that were made out of something gold, yet with a twinge of silver in it. Those too, were covered with their own set of designs. Some sort of armband decorated her arms, which were bronze as well._

_"Who are you?" the alchemist whispered, awestruck._

_The lady smiled, tossed her head and laughed. The silvery tinkle of her laughter rang into the darkness. As her laughter subsided, she looked at Alyssa once more and replied, "I, my dear child, am Athena, Goddess of War."_

_"Go-goddess?"_

_"Are you deaf, girl? I said I was a goddess, did I not? Now, we really have to do something with this darkness. Think you can shed some light for us, girl?"_

_Taken aback, Alyssa stared at the goddess and stammered, "But I'm not even a magician, just an alchemist. How can I create light for you?"_

_"My dear girl, it makes no difference whether you are a magician, an alchemist, or whatever foolish occupations you humans have created. Magic has always been in your blood, in everyone's blood in fact. You just need to concentrate on that magic more often. Tell you what, I'll give you a few guidelines, but you better hurry up. I'm getting sick of this boring black."_

_Alyssa nodded her head rather cautiously. Athena went behind her and instructed softly, "Now close your eyes." The alchemist complied, waiting for the next word._

_"Listen around you and calm your senses. Never try to create magic when panicking; it will only lead to a disastrous result. Now listen to your own heartbeat. Feel the blood coursing inside your body, feel the warmth and heat that radiates from every single pore on your body. Now channel that warmth you feel to your hands. Slowly now, take your time. Never rush heat," the goddess whispered hypnotically into Alyssa's ear._

_As Alyssa concentrated on both the goddess's words as well as her own body warmth, she could feel every single detail Athena had described. Forcing herself to calm down, she took a few deep breaths and resumed her concentration. She could feel blood rushing in her veins, as if desperate to reach a destination. Slowly, cautiously, she channeled what she felt towards her hands. She could feel a small circle of heat forming on her palm, and it grew larger at every second._

_"That's it, girl. Concentrate harder. Now, raise both your hands in front of you, open your eyes, and call out, '_With the warmth of your master, I command you to light up the darkened areas._'," the goddess said softly, withdrawing away slowly as she watched the alchemist complied to her words._

_Alyssa watched in amazement as the spell worked its way around. Instead of darkness, there was light everywhere. The alchemist suddenly found herself in a large room filled with books, armory, various types of equipments that any fighter could go wild for, and a table filled with pots of potions and unidentifiable liquids._

_"Where am I? Did I do this?" she asked the goddess._

_"Yes and no. You did generate the light but you did not create this room. As a matter of fact, you are in my room," came the reply._

_"Your room? But what am I doing here?"_

_Athena did not answer immediately. Instead, she walked past the alchemist and went straight to an antique maple desk and pulled out a drawer. From it she took out something before closing it back._

_"Recognize this?"_

_Alyssa squinted as the goddess dangled something from her had. It looked like-_

_"Where did you get that?" she whispered. She moved closer to Athena, her eyes never leaving the amulet the goddess was dangling._

_Athena smiled knowingly. "Ah, so you do recognize it, do you?"_

_"Of course I do, it's my sister's lucky amulet!"_

_"Bingo!" crowed the goddess. Then her expression suddenly turned serious._

_"Listen to me, girl. Your sister is in grave danger now. I cannot tell you where she is or who captured her, but I can tell you that you must travel to one of the nine worlds that can be located somewhere between the living and the dead."_

_Alyssa looked confused._

_"Huh? What worlds?"_

_"That you have to figure it out yourself. Ask your friend if you must, he might know about it. But you must never forget-"_

_Suddenly, the room jolted and quaked. Alyssa quickly found herself being tossed and turned like milk churning in the machine back home._

_"Goddess," she gasped, "What's going on?"_

_The goddess ignored Alyssa. She raised both her arms above her and chanted something in a foreign language. The alchemist shivered as she listened for it was Old Language that the goddess was using. Old Language that was never spoken by anyone, as it was both powerful words as it is dangerous. Then, just as abruptly as it started, the room stopped quaking._

_Alyssa sighed in relief. Her head was beginning to spin from the aftermath of the sudden shake. She glanced at Athena. Her pose remained still, almost as if she was turned into a carved statue._

_'Umm, Goddess Athena?" she asked tentatively. No response. The alchemist shrugged her shoulders helplessly and sat on a nearby couch. Then she stared at her hands, hardly believing that she had just done magic not long ago._

_"Hmm, I wonder if I could ever do that again?" she mused aloud. Consumed with curiosity, she glanced sideways at the frozen goddess and back to her hands, a smile tugging at her lips._

_Quickly, she resumed a pose of a mediate; her legs crossed with both hands resting on each thigh. She took a deep breath and concentrated on relieving her mind from and stress or thoughts. It took her a few moments to complete this since her mind was still whirling with numerous possibilities and the goddess's revelation a while ago._

_Finally, she could feel her body in deep relaxation and her mind stress-free. The next step was to 'feel' her body. She concentrated hard on each and every flow of blood in her veins, and directed the warmth and heat from her body towards her hands. Like before, she could feel the heat being generated on her palms._

_She raised her arms midair, until they were shoulder-level. She didn't want to repeat the same spell as the room was already lighted up. But what was she to speak up?_

_"Fiery warmth, shall you be enchanted to follow and protect me wherever I go," she suddenly chanted. Then she stopped in surprise. Where did that come from, she wondered. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking at the bright illumination. It took her a few moments to realize that there was a reddish fireball about the size of her palm floating in front of her._

_"Aah," she screamed, instinctively shielding her eyes with her hand. She braced herself for an attack. Nothing happened. Slowly, she peeked between her fingers only to find out that the fireball did not move from its place. Puzzled, she let her hand drop as she scrutinized the orb of fire closely._

_"Nice one, girl. Summoning a protective orb," a voice nearby said wearily._

_Startled, Alyssa turned her head to discover the goddess had unfreeze herself from her spot. "Protective orb?" she stammered. Then she noticed that the goddess looked tired and weary, almost as if she had just returned from a battle recently._

_Athena nodded her head once. "From the looks of it you sure don't know what you just did," she commented, "but I'll tell you anyway. A protective orb requires the burning strength and need of the caster, and will only appear when needed the most. This means that the orb will be by your side all the time, but it cannot be seen by anyone else. Perhaps that sage, your friend, might see it, for he is one heck of a powerful sage, though I doubt he knows it. But apart from him, no one will see your orb."_

_"Now you must go, girl. Reality seeks you. Remember, you must find your sister before everything's too late. Ask sage-boy for help if you must, but whatever you do, never give up. Kapish?" the goddess continued sternly._

_"Ye-es," Alyssa said slowly. "But what's going on? I feel like I'm being kept in the dark or something!" she continued, her head feeling heavy all of the sudden. Her eyelids began to droop against her will. Dimly, she could see the goddess smiling before hearing her saying quietly, "You will know when the time comes…"_

_And she blacked out completely.

* * *

_

Alyssa woke up with a jerk. She stared around, blinking rapidly. Her mind was still racing from the experience she encountered just now. Was it for real, she wondered, or did she dream the whole thing up? Then she realized that there was a fire orb about the size of her fist floating lazily around her. She stared hard at the orb.

"So it was real," she murmured. She looked around her, and noticed that her friends were already in deep slumber. She returned her gaze to the protective orb she had casted before. Wonderingly, she stretched out a hand to touch the orb.

"So you are here to protect me," she murmured, "but what are you protecting me against?"


	15. Bows And Arrows

_A/N: Chapter 14 is finally out! Haha..sorry it took so long guys, I had my exams. Anyway:_

_Tom Valor: Thanks! But I'm still not that good at writing_

_Puppkid: Sorry if this story is confusing, I'm just writing them based on instinct so it could be rather messy p_

_wenzen37: I like mythology too, but I think I might have mix up a few goddesses somewhere > anyway, what's a deus ex-machina??_

_Hyuuga: Yeah, I kinda realised that too. I think it's cause I wrote that last part when I was half asleep. haha._

_Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm going to be busy again next week but hopefully I am able to continue writing! Oh and by the way, this is an explainatory chapter...so please don't fall from your chair...falling asleep! p_

**Chapter 14: Bows And Arrows**

Al de Baran, the city of mystery. It was also where the alchemist's guild, Test Tube, was situated. Merchants around the age of twenty and thirty could be seen flocking hopefully around the entrance of the guild as they desperately tried to rehash back their practice and studies before their names were called out for their exams.

At the very middle of the city lies a vast building, with blue, worn out roof shingles and a luminous round clock just below it. It was the clock tower. And just surrounding it was a wide stretch of pavement, squared on all four sides around the tower. Merchants could be seen shouting their wares, competing for customers and at the same time, trying to sabotage their opponent's business.

There were also veterans of many kinds; crusaders, priests, knights, and many more, taking short breaks while regenerating their strength from their training. There was also a Kapra Receptionist nearby, cheerfully teleporting those that wished to leave the city fast and easy and handling storage for her customers at the same time.

Apart from being the center for the alchemists, Al de Baran too belongs to the headquarters of Kapra. There, young ladies who wish to join the forces of receptionists were trained gruelingly. It was also a place for the public to exchange gift points earned from their frequent use of the company into simple gifts such as a pair of snazzy sunglasses. One can even store items there as there is a large storage room designed specially for that purpose.

At that very moment, there was a loud argument in the storage room. Young novices that were taken in by a Kapra tour guide looked at each other in alarm as the volume of the voices increased rapidly. Soon, they could hear the shouts of a woman from behind the closed door.

"What do you mean, it's not there?"

There was a soft, unintelligible response.

"Well, find them, _now_! For the mercy of God, what must I do to get good services around here?"

Just then, two Kapra ladies rushed past by the tour group and headed straight into the storage room. The young children craned their necks to see what was going on. But the door was already shut by then. Inside, the two ladies saw an angry huntress with a Kapra receptionist, who was nearly in tears at that moment. One of the two Kapra ladies stepped forward.

"Excuse me, I am Lexia, manageress of Kapra's headquarters. What seems to be the problem here?" asked the raven-haired lady politely. The huntress turned around to glare at Lexia.

"I am Earilith. This girl here tells me that my whole set of silver-tipped arrows is missing, and my hunter's gloves as well!"

The manageress looked at the distraught girl. "Is that true, Alley?" she asked sternly. Trembling now, the poor girl nodded slowly, her head remained down.

"I can't find it anyway, Miss Lexia. It's not even in the Lost and Found aisle," came the soft reply.

Lexia sighed. This was the third time Alley did a mistake like this. But then, she was new after all. "Go and wash your face, Alley, I'll talk to you later. Beatrice, take her to the washroom, please," she instructed. The second Kapra lady nodded her head and beckoned for Alley to follow her out from the room. She closed the door behind her and shooed the curious novices that were still hanging around outside and scolded the tour guide for letting them hang around like that.

Lexia now turned towards the huntress. "I'm dreadfully sorry for the mix up, Miss Earilith. I'm afraid that Alley is still…naïve about her work," she apologized.

Earilith sighed, "Never mind. I know how that feels anyway. I'm not fully angry at her, I just want my arrows and gloves!"

The Kapra nodded her head understandingly. "Very well, give me a few minutes to find your items. Perhaps Alley did not check as thoroughly as she was told to. If not, Kapra's Headquarters hold full responsibility on the lost items and will refund them," she said. With that, she turned around and started checking around the nooks and crannies, muttering to herself as she checked each storage box thoroughly. Finally…

"Here it is!"

Earilith looked pleased. "Thanks! For a moment there I thought it was a goner for sure," she said gratefully as she took the items from Lexia. The lady smiled, "Not a problem. We aim to serve anyway."

The huntress nodded her head and went out from the storage room, stopping by the washroom to check on the young trainee she had yelled on back then. She felt ashamed of herself for losing control that way. "What is _wrong_ with me, anyway? I don't usually fly into deep ends over things like this," she muttered to herself.

She poked her head in and found Alley sitting disconsolately by the washbasin. The huntress entered the washroom, startling the young Kapra slightly. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently.

Alley looked at Earilith, and turned away. "I'm sorry about just now. I keep doing those mistakes," came the muffled reply.

"Aw come on, cheer up! Everyone makes mistakes anyway. Don't worry, I'm not mad or whatsoever," the huntress said cheerfully, patting her shoulder understandingly.

The young girl looked up tearfully but her face shone with tentative hope. "Really?" she whispered. Earilith nodded her head and gave her a sweet to calm her nerves. Alley accepted it gratefully, popping the red candy into her mouth.

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes, even me. We all learn from what we did wrong anyway. Don't feel so bad about one mistake like this. Believe me, I've done far worse things than misplacing a few arrows," Earilith said consolingly.

"You _did_?"

"Yeah, and believe me, it was hard to handle the consequences later on," she grimaced as she remembered that particular incident. "Anyway, the point is, don't let today be a block to your dreams and hopes. Accept it as a challenge to do better, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Atta girl, Alley! Now, dry up your tears and go do your thing! I believe there isn't anyone handling the ins and outs of the storage room right now," Earilith said, her eyes twinkling.

Alley nodded her head and shyly said her thanks. She left the washroom and headed straight for her duty area, her head high and determined. Earilith watched her go and sighed.

"She reminds me of Lyss…" she muttered. "And speaking about her, I wonder where is she," she mused to herself, "I thought we were supposed to meet up here. Or did she forget?" She walked slowly towards the exit as her thought wandered around the alchemist.

Suddenly, she bumped onto something hard right in front of her. "Oof," she grunted as she fell straight on the ground. A short burst of stars dazzled her vision as she sat undignified on the hard ground.

"Miss, are you all right?"

"Huh?" she asked bewilderedly, the annoying stars still clouding her sight. Dimly, she could see someone bending down to look at her. She guessed it was a man, considering the stranger's physique was too bulky to be a lady's.

"Just stay where you are, the shock will pass," the voice said kindly.

"I'm all right," she muttered as she felt her cheeks burning. To think she did not look where she was going. A huntress like her, falling down as though she was a dolt! She looked at the stranger, finally able to see that the person was a he, and he was an alchemist.

"Sorry about that, I didn't see where I was going," she said apologetically. She brushed off the dirt from her blouse and trousers.

"Ah, it's okay. Well, I'd better get going then. I need to meet Kapra fast," came the cheerful reply.

Earilith nodded and bid him goodbye. Then suddenly a thought occurred. "Hey wait!" she called out. The alchemist stopped and turned to look at her inquiringly. Earilith went to him and asked, "This might sound weird, but do you know Alyssa Quayshua? She is a friend of mine, and an alchemist as well. Dark hair till her waist, blue eyes, rings any bell?"

The stanger frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm, Alyssa, huh? Yeah, I know her. I think I saw her leaving the city of Juno a few days back. Something happened I should think, considering they were in a rush to leave that city," he said.

"Juno? What were they doing there anyway?" the startled huntress asked.

The alchemist shrugged and responded, "Beats me, but I think it had something to do with the havoc in Morroc the other day. You know about it?" At her shake of head he continued, "There was a huge fight between those people staying at the Morrocan Inn with some sort of undead creatures and spirits as well. I think it was the hauntings of Glast Heim anyway."

Earilith stared at him, dumbfounded. Fight? Glast Heim? What in the name of King Tristan was going on?

The alchemist cleared his throat slightly when she remained silent. "Well, I told you all I know. If you would excuse me, I have to be on my way. Good luck in your search for Alyssa!" he waved goodbye, leaving the huntress rooted on her spot.

Earilith barely heard him leave. Her mind was racing with a thousand possibilities of danger. What was happening to her friend? And the undead creatures in Morroc, what was that all about?

_Your friend is in danger, Earilith Sensedriell, and you know it._

"Eh? Who said that?" wondered the startled huntress, as she looked left and right. No one was close enough to whisper anything in her ear. She stared blankly around as alchemists and knights walked past by her, looking at her curiously. Snapping out form her reverie, she quickly left the headquarters and hurriedly searched for an inn to stay.

"Howdy miss, what can I do for 'ya today?" greeted the bartender as she entered the Chilly Beery Inn. Earilith looked around her. It seemed safe enough. No hidden dangers or whatsoever here. She relaxed and smiled at the bartender in return.

"Have a free room, mister? I need a good night's rest," she asked politely.

The bartender nodded his head vigorously as he wiped a beer jug clean. They haggled for a while on the price of his lodgings. Finally satisfied, the bartender beckoned a young boy to escort Earilith to her room.

"This is your room, miss. The bathroom is located at the end of the corridor. If there is anything you wish, just ask," the boy said politely. Earilith smiled at the boy and, being generous as she was, tipped the boy handsomely. The young lad's eyes widened as he saw the amount of gold she had just gave him.

"Bu-ut, miss, I can't accept this. It is too much!" he stammered, stretching out his hand as he tried to give back the lavish tip. The huntress shook her head and said kindly, "Never mind about it, just use it for good purposes, okay? Who knows, perhaps this few gold coins I gave you could bring happiness to someone in your life."

The boy stared at her and smiled gratefully. "Well, thank you miss. This should help my ma to get well soon," he said, thanking her profusely again and again. Earilith grinned and gave him a few more gold coins, told him to spend them wisely, and shooed him out from her room.

"Phew," she muttered to herself as she leaned against the door, "I'm beat!" She placed her arbalest and her arrows on the coffee table nearby and plunked herself unceremoniously on the rather hard bed. She stared at the stained ceiling above, trying to recollect her thoughts as she thought about a certain alchemist she knew.

"Alyssa, Alyssa, why is it that you seem to get into trouble more than me?" she shook her head sadly as she wondered where was her friend now. Halfway in her dreams, she suddenly heard a soft knock on the door. Getting up, she went to the door and opened it. To her surprise, she saw an elegant lady standing at her doorway.

"Err, how can I help you, miss?" she asked awkwardly, wondering what would the lady want.

The lady snorted and said haughtily, "You can start helping by letting me in your room before anyone else sees me, girl!"

Earilith stiffened. As much as this lady was elegant, she was just about as rude as well. "Why should I?" she challenged, even though her heart was beating fast. She couldn't help feeling like she knew who that lady was. She had a pair or piercing blue eyes, delicately surrounded by perfect arch-shaped eyebrows followed by beautifully tipped nose and a proportionate rosebud mouth. Her hair was in a cascade of golden curls, all the way down to her waist. Her body is the type that was envied by ladies everywhere.

"Come on girl, I'm not here to stay and fight with you! And you and I both know that we have something in common, more common than you think," the golden-haired lady said rather snappishly.

Earilith continued to stare at her for a few more seconds before realization dawned. "Oh my gosh, you're Lady Artemis, the goddess!" she exclaimed in amazement.

"That's right, girl. Now are you going to let me in or are you going to broadcast my presence here to everyone?"

"Oh, right! Come right in, please."

Lady Artemis strode in, ignoring the huntress's outstretched hand and sat on a plump sofa nearby. She stared at the surroundings distastefully. Then she glanced at Earilith.

"Well? Are you going to sit down or what?" she demanded rather imperviously.

"Eh? Oh yeah, right."

Earilith went to her bed and sat there, all the while staring rather inquiringly at the goddess. "So why are you here, Lady Artemis?" she asked self-consciously. She wasn't sure what was the goddess doing searching for her in the first place, but she was sure dying of curiosity trying to figure out why.

"Trying to help you, that's what," came the sarcastic reply.

"Help me? Help me in what?"

Lady Artemis sighed impatiently and stood up, She went to a blank wall and waved her hand. Almost immediately, the coffee-stained wall disappeared and was replaced by a translucent view. Earilith yelped in surprise. The 'view' was moving and Alyssa was in it.

She stared at the moving picture the goddess had conjured up. Alyssa was talking to someone that looked like a lady warrior from the old age. She went closer to hear the conversation but could not hear anything.

"You can't hear anything, this is just a vision from the past. It seems that Athena had been doing some personal visits of her own," said the goddess cryptically.

"A-Athena? You mean that that lady there is actually _Goddess_ Athena?"

Lady Artemis scowled at the huntress. "Well, duh! See anyone else there?" came the sarcastic retort.

Boy, for a goddess Lady Artemis was sure a grouch, though Earilith as she continued to watch the byplay between her friend and the goddess of war. Then she looked at the goddess in front of her.

"What exactly are you trying to tell me, goddess?" she asked slowly and carefully, "Is Alyssa in trouble?"

"She is already in trouble. Too much trouble if you ask me. Not to mention messy. Anyway, Athena is protecting her right now so you don't need to bother about her at the moment. It is you that I am here for."

Earilith looked taken aback. "Me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you. Believe it or not, you are a good huntress. Sure, you act like a huge klutz once in a while, but your sharp sense of affinity attracts me. With my guidance, you can be one of the best huntress yet, and help your friend there at the same time. So what do you say, are you game?" the goddess looked at Earilith.

Earilith opened and closed her mouth a few times, the ability to speak was robbed from her. "Well?" asked the goddess impatiently, "I haven't got all day you know!"

The huntress finally unglued her tongue and stammered, "Err, yeah, of course! I would be glad to have your guidance, goddess!"

"Good, good. I knew you would come to your senses. Before we start on anything, let me get a few things straight with you. First and foremost, I will not, I repeat, I will _not_ help you in any of your battles. That is all dependent on your strength, instinct and ability to adjust accordingly. And second, I will be around when you need me, but don't call me for silly stuff like what arrow is best for whatever monster. Got it?"

Earilith nodded. That seemed simple enough.

"Right, and the most important thing is, _never tell anyone of my existence nor the fact that you are communicating with me._ Kapish?"

Again, Earilith nodded. No help, no silly questions, and no blabbing, she thought to herself.

"Good. Now first, you gotta find your friend, _fast_."

"Duh, that's what I'm trying to do in the first place! But since they keep on moving here and there like a whirlwind, it's hard to pinpoint them down."

Lady Artemis leaned closer and said, "Now listen here, girl. You have good brains; I'll admit that at least. Anyway, this is one clue I can share with you. The last I heard, your friend and _her_ friends were heading towards Glast Heim. So you better start packing and begin your journey."

Earilith gave a start. "Glast Heim? Why there?" she wondered aloud. Then she looked at the goddess. "Hang on a sec," she said slowly, "If they _are_ heading towards Glast Heim, then…they have not reached yet, right? So where are they and how am I supposed to meet them?"

Lady Artemis looked at her approvingly. "So you _can_ think. All right, I'll tell you where they are right now. But you must figure out the rest. They are leaving the city of knowledge at the moment, circling the mountains of Mjholnir. But if I'm not mistaken, the next city they would be at is…"

Something unexpected happened next. They both heard a loud rapping on the door. Startled, Earilith nearly jumped out from her skin. She stared for a few moments at the door and turned back to the goddess.

"Hey, where did she go?" she wondered aloud as she looked left and right. Lady Artemis was nowhere to be found. It was like she had disappeared into thin air. She quickly glanced at the wall, half expecting the picture to disappear as well. She was not disappointed at what she saw.

The knockings on the door increased. Sighing, she went to the door and asked, "Who is it?"

"Room service," came the short reply.

"Right," she muttered to herself as she opened the door. Pasting a smile on her face, she gestured the cleaning lady inside. Her mind was still on the goddess and her words. A sudden exclamation from the cleaning lady jolted her back into reality.

"What is it?" she asked in surprise.

"So sorry miss, I'm just amazed with those clothes. Why, they're beautiful!" the lady stammered.

"Huh? Where?" she looked around, wondering what clothes did the maid meant. Then she saw it. Draped carefully on her bed was a set of clothes; a _new_ set of clothes she had never seen before.

Overcome with curiosity, she went closer for inspection. She bit back an exclamation as she lifted the garment and held it in front of her. The material was soft and fluid. It was garbed in dark sapphires beaded around the waist, giving a royal impression.

It was a huntress's clothing with a twist of elegance. The shorts, instead of coarse cotton, were made of something that felt suspiciously like silk, but is stronger than it. Like the top, it had the same crystals sewn onto it, only it is sewn sparingly at the bottom. The material is warm black, and silver linings decorated its sleeves and waistline for the shorts.

There was even a belt with it. She gently placed the clothes back on the bed and picked up the belt. It felt light and cool to touch. She gazed at it with awe. Never did she see such fine workmanship on a piece of belt. Made out of elunium, a type of steel that is well known for its strength and regal structure, the belt was inscribed with runes. On closer inspection, she noticed that those runes were ancient language that is used for protection. There were small unnoticeable hooks by the sides of the belt for her to clip on her odds and ends.

_A little something to help you on your way, Earilith Sensedriel. Use it well._

Earilith gazed dreamily into space as she heard those words. Thank you, she thought. Then she noticed that the cleaning lady was still staring at her. Clearing her throat, she gave her a half-smile and said simply, "Birthday present from a friend."

The lady nodded again and again. Earilith cleared her throat again and gazed significantly around her. Snapping back into action, the lady blushed and continued to clean the room at top speed. The huntress waited for her to leave before gazing back at the clothes.

_Rest now, you'll need your strength tomorrow._

"Right," she muttered, "I need to _sleep_!"


	16. Separated Once More

A/N: Sorry this update took me so long, guys! My workload has just been doubled thanks to the lovely club of mine..Sigh.Anyway, hope you enjoy this extra long chapter of mine..hahahaha..mind you, I'm not really that good at fighting scenes, so I really hope that you will bear with my mistakes..hehee then again, no one seems to be reviewing my former chapter anyway.haahaha...I guess all of us are busy these days huh?

**Chapter 15: Separated Once More**

"Oh come _on_, Trexxy! Don't tell me we're lost _again_!" howled Anexia.

The priest glared at her sister as he tried to comprehend the map once more. "Shut up, Anne! I'm trying to find a way out of here too, you know!" he shot back. They had left camp after dawn and so far they had been moving around in circles all day in Mount Mjholnir.

Shenzein sneaked a look at Alyssa. She seems fine, he reasoned, but one can never tell what is up with her. He remembered quite well what happened last night, even though _she_ seems to be unaware of anything. He noticed, too, that the sibling quarreling right now are also doing their best to act normal and avoid her as much as possible at the same time. He sighed. Nothing much he could do about that. Glancing back at Alyssa, he fell back a step to match her pace.

"Alyssa," he started gently, "Alyssa, are you okay? You seem pretty quiet."

The alchemist looked up wearily. Shenzein was shocked to see the dark circles around her eyes, making her look as though she hadn't been sleeping well for a few weeks. Then almost immediately, he was swamped with guilt. Of course she hasn't been sleeping well, he chided himself, her sister has been kidnapped, her ex-fiancé suddenly appears, and there was yesterday's incident where he wasn't sure she actually knows about.

"I'm fine, Shein. Just thinking about something, that's all," she said quietly.

Shenzein stared at her. "Lyss, you know that you can talk to me about anything, right?" he said tentatively, gesturing a token of understanding towards her.

Alyssa smiled faintly. "Yes…yes, I know, Shein. Thanks for always being there for me," she said, reaching for his hand and squeezed it gratefully. Shenzein stared at the hand she was holding, feeling a warm glow suffusing him slowly. Her holding his hand felt…_good_. Then he shook his head and pulled his hand away. This was not the time to indulge in romanticism.

"Shein…"

Shenzein looked at Alyssa questioningly. "Yeah?" he asked.

"What is actually going on?" she asked wearily, almost as if she was talking to herself instead.

Shenzein sighed and took her hand, holding it comfortingly. "I have no idea…"

Then Anexia looked behind and gave a mischevious smirk at the two of them. "Hey you two lovebirds! Come and help my pathetic brother here before we get lost once more!" she called out, ducking the annoyed whack from her brother swiftly at the same time. She grinned at them.

Shenzein chuckled softly under his breath. "Looks like someone needs rescuing in front there," he said. He looked at the alchemist questioningly, "Coming?"

Alyssa shook her head smiled. "I want to be alone for awhile. You go and save the day then, Shein," she said, gesturing him to go and at the same time took her hand away from his. He nodded, gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze and walked towards Astrexil.

She stared at the trio in front of her. They seem so uncaring of the future, so carefree. How I wish I could be just like them, she thought wistfully, burden-less and not worried. She automatically followed her teammates as her thoughts drifted once more to the goddess.

"_Find your sister before everything's too late…"_ she had said. But how is she to know when is it too late?

_Alyssa! Don't separate yourself from your friends! It's too dangerous and makes your vulnerable to any attacks!_

The alchemist nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked around her wildly, trying to discern the location of that voice. She could have sworn that it was Goddess Athena speaking to her. Then out of the blue, the earth began to rumble.

"Alyssa, watch out!" shouted Shenzein in horror as he tried to control his balance above the shaking ground. Alyssa felt her body trembling according to the rhythm of the quake. She saw that her friends were too far away for her to run to, and that they were all just as alarmed as she was feeling right now.

Then out of the blue, the earth split somewhere in between her and her friends. Long shards of earth rose from the split center, forming a thick wall thus separating her with the rest. "No!" she screamed, running towards the newly built wall as fast as she could without falling. "Shein! Anne! Trexxy!" she shouted, banging her hands against the thick mound of earth.

Abruptly, the quake suddenly stopped. Alyssa took out her axe and clumsily tried to whack the mounds of earth away. Nothing happened. It was as if the earth was indestructible and would not crumble at all. Alyssa looked upwards, hoping to find a way to climb across it. But the wall was too high and there were no ridges at all to support her climb. She shook her head in desperation.

_Prepare yourself, girl! Your enemy is approaching!_

Alyssa shook her head again, but she took out her twin daggers and kept her axe. She took up a defensive stance as her eyes roamed around for any movement. She could see now that it was useless to try and break the wall. Her best chance would be to try and fight the person who had done this. Then she heard a slow chuckle somewhere in the shadows.

"Whos is it? Show yourself, man!" she demanded.

The chuckle then became shrill and menacing. "A man, am I?" said the voice tauntingly. It sounded like an overly girlish voice.

Alyssa looked around her grimly. She still couldn't pinpoint the exact location of that voice. Whoever it was, it was good at disguising itself amongst the shadows. Suddenly, she felt a warm glow erupting within her. A red fireball materialized suddenly in front of the surprised alchemist. Then she remembered the protective orb she had accidentally casted when she was in the goddess' chambers.

"Wha-"

The speaker was suddenly thrown away from the gloom. Picking herself up, she brushed away the dirt from her cloaked and eyed the fireball in slight puzzlement. Alyssa stared at the person in front of her. _It_ was a girl. No, she amended quickly, not a girl, a woman. Dressed in the garb of a wizard, her short crop of bright blue hair stood out nicely.

"Nice one, alchemist! Now tell me, how did you do that?" the wizardress asked pleasantly with a hint of steel in her voice.

"Now what makes you think I would tell you, stranger?" she shot back, gripping her twin daggers tightly. She was still unsure of that wizardress.

The woman laughed softly. "Won't tell now, won't you?" she said mockingly, "No worries, you will talk eventually." She raised her left hand suddenly and casted a few invisible attacking orbs towards the startled alchemist. Alyssa barely had time to duck from that attack, but the fireball in front of her suddenly enlarged and created a wall of fire in front of her. The invisible attacks hissed and fizzled as soon as it touched the protective wall.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad," the wizardress said slowly, almost hungrily as she stared at the alchemist, "Now this is what I call hunting." She stretched her right hand forward, her staff being held tightly in it. As Alyssa watched in fascination and horror, thick clouds began to form around the wizardress, which soon took the shape of a few ghostly wolves. Those visages were twice bigger than a real wolf and there were about twenty of them.

The wizardress smiled maniacally as she petted one of the wolves. "Like my pets? I call them Visages. And guess what? They'll be your playmates right now. You better watch out, their favorite game is Hunt and Kill!" she said playfully as the wolves left their creator and bounded towards the alchemist in an alarming breakneck speed.

That lady is crazy, Alyssa thought as she eyed the approaching wolves nervously. The first two wolves tried to leap across the fiery boundary but were caught by it midway. Taking advantage of this, five other wolves streaked across the firewall and began to target the alchemist. They stopped just in front of her and began to circle around her menacingly, growling once in a while as a sign of intimidation.

Alyssa took a calming breath and eyed the predators steadily. It won't do her any good to break down right now. Growling, the first wolf began its attack. It leapt towards the alchemist, baring its teeth for all it was worth. Alyssa ducked the attack that was aimed deadly at her throat and managed to slash the wolf under its stomach. She crouched down and balanced herself immediately. She looked at the wolf she had attacked. To her utmost horror and amazement, the wolf did not look as though it was wounded at all. Not even a scratch was in sight on the wolf's body.

The wizardress gave a trill of maniacal laughter. "How stupid of you, alchemist! Don't you know that my Visages are not just any wolves? They're ghostly, which means you can't attack them with just any material weapons!" she said mockingly.

Oh shit, thought Alyssa. She looked at her twin daggers helplessly. Now _how_ was she to attack them? The second wolf suddenly launched itself towards her, forcing her to roll and duck the attack, wildly slashing against the wolf. She could feel the coarse bristles of the wolf's fur against her bare hand. But why couldn't she wound it?

Suddenly she felt a slice of pain on her left shoulder. Turning around, she barely glimpsed a long vertical gash on her shoulder just before she was confronted by another brutal attack. Acting instinctively, she ducked her head back and raised her daggers in a slashing motion above her. She felt her blades plunging into the beast's chest but there wasn't a single drop of blood or an open wound in sight.

"At this rate I'm going to go to hell first before these jerks!" she muttered to herself as she picked herself up unsteadily. Already her left arm was growing numb from the loss of blood pouring out from her deep wound. She eyed her opponents calmly, her insides raging with fear.

"Give it up, Alyssa Quayshua! You can never win my visages," the wizardress trilled annoyingly. Alyssa gritted her teeth. That stupid woman was really getting on her last nerves!

_Don't get provoked so easily, girl! Use your brains, for goodness sake! Ghostly beasts cannot be killed using material items, so use elemental ones! Remember what I have taught you before, use those skills now!_

Alyssa nodded her head grimly as she heard the instruction. Concentrating hard on her body, she focused her body warmth directly towards her hands. Dimly, she was aware that the protective orb was playing its part again by fending off those annoying Visages. She felt the warmth quickly pooling into her palm. Automatically, she raised both hands with her palm facing outwards and zoned the heated motes towards the ghostly wolves. It worked.

Surprised by the sudden attack, the beasts were flung a few steps backwards. They quickly regained their balance and growled even more menacingly at the weary alchemist.

_Again! This time, use your faith and spirit to generate motes, not your heat anymore. Using excess heat will only tire and kill you._

Alyssa complied. Rubbing her hands together, she thought about her deity and her staunch belief towards her God. Almost automatically, her mind picked up a reel of prayers and she began to chant them out loud. She could feel a pleasant yet tingly sensation running up and down her arms, almost as if a feather filled with static was being gently rubbed against her.

Bringing her hands parallel to her shoulders, she stared directly at five wolves that were side by side and dispelled her magick towards them. The silvery white motes that were formed assembled themselves into a spear-like element and zoomed straight towards the wolves. At the very last minute, the spear split into five sharp blades and pierced the wolves directly into their hearts.

"No, _no_! This cannot be happening!" the wizardress howled in anger. She waved her staff and more Visages began to form once more.

"Oh, no!" Alyssa groaned, "Not more!"

_Keep your head on, girl! Now, listen to me. Put your hand into your pocket. You will find a semi-large egg in it. Hold the egg with both hands and summon the creature from the egg out._

"But how am I supposed to summon it out when I don't even know how to summon it in the first place?" Alyssa asked desperately. The wolves were getting too close for comfort.

_Just hold it! You will know what to do. Believe in yourself Alyssa Quayshua. Prove to that annoying idiot there that you are just as powerful as she is!_

Alyssa nodded fearfully and did as the goddess had asked. To her utmost surprise, there _was_ an egg in her pocket. Now where did that come from, she wondered as she held the egg with both her hands. Nothing happened.

Gazing rather uncertainly at the egg, she wondered what to do next as she eyed the wolves uneasily. They were still steadily approaching; their furs bristling like anything. She returned her gaze to the egg nestled on her hands. Please, she begged silently, please help me creature from this egg; I'm about to be human pulp here!

Still nothing happened. "Goddess, what am I supposed to _do_?" she murmured desperately, her eyes darting between the wolves and the silent egg. Then suddenly she focused on the egg once more. Was it her imagination, or did the egg just _moved_?

She stared hard at the egg, semi-oblivious to her surroundings. She was unaware that the protective orb had just surrounded her with a foolproof barrier between her and the Visages. Nor was she aware that the wizardress was stamping her feet and cursing at her. All she knew was that the egg was about to hatch, judging from its now violent and jerky movements.

"Aah…"

There was a tiny crack just on the sharp summit of the egg. More cracks followed then after. As Alyssa shifted closer towards the egg, white lights as bright as the sun on summer's day shone through the cracks. Then, to the amazement of the alchemist, a huge paw appeared from a ridiculously small hole that was formed when the broken eggshells cracked and fell apart. Like a slow paced movie, the paw emerged, followed by another paw, and eventually, a body emerged from the egg.

Alyssa stared agape at the creature. It did not take her an ounce of doubt on what that creature was. Its body was sleek and supple, its mouth baring a full set of predator's teeth, and its fur so sleek that it would make women green with envy. It was Vagabond. But how did I capture one of those? She wondered in puzzlement as she watched the mighty wolf shook its fur and stared haughtily around.

The Visages stepped back slightly, unsure of what to do next. Even as visages, the memories of their proud leader were still swimming in their minds. These ghost-like wolves were once alive as can be; but their souls were trapped by the wizardress and were forced to bend down to her will.

Vagabond lifted its mighty head and gave a large sniff. Its eyes rove around lazily, almost as if it was simply savoring the situation. Then, it took a step forward and purposefully shielded Alyssa from the Visages. It stared calmly at the ghost-wolves, as if challenging them to attack.

"You idiots! Attack them at once!" screamed the wizardress, quite beside herself from rage. She waved her staff and produced even more visages. Vagabond merely flicked a glance at her before returning its gaze towards the ghostly visages. The visages did not move a muscle as they stared straight into the mighty wolf's piercing yellow eyes. Why, Alyssa realized, it was as if Vagabond was communicating with them!

Then the huge beast lifted its mighty head and gave a long, melancholic howl. Alyssa lifted her hands and placed them on both her ears. She shut her eyes tightly. The howl was piercing and loud. She felt as though her eardrums were about to burst into pieces. Then just as abruptly, the howl ended. Slowly, Alyssa lifted an eyelid to peek at the situation. Then she relaxed and allowed her hands to fall on her sides. An amazing sight greeted her.

The Visages were _gone_. But in place were several spirit-like orbs floating around Vagabond. "What happened to them?" she murmured aloud without realizing it. Vagabond turned around and bowed majestically at her, the orbs moving gracefully as it moved.

_The visages you saw were actually trapped souls of the wolves that had once been Vagabond's loyal followers. That wizardress had trapped those souls in her staff somehow and could summon them when she needs a whipping boy, or rather a whipping wolf. Anyway, Vagabond broke the spell that had bound them to the wizardress. Watch and learn now, girl. This could get interesting._

Vagabond got up from its feet and slowly turned around to face the wizardress. It growled softly as it faced her. Its eyes bored gimlets into the frozen lady. The wizardress took a deep breath and faced the wolf. Alyssa noticed that her hands were shaking!

"Stay away from me, you ugly beast!" shrieked the wizardress, her hands gripping tightly on her staff. Before Alyssa could blink an eye, the lady threw a couple of ice shards towards the wolf. Vagabond dodged the attack easily, its body fluid with motion. The wizardress shrieked even more, whether in anger or with fear Alyssa was not sure. She attacked continuously towards the mighty wolf, hoping to throw it down. Ice shards rained the area like a heavy blizzard, causing Alyssa to duck for cover. Yet Vagabond did not receive even a single scratch from the attack. Alyssa was amazed to see the wolf move in such a graceful yet powerful motion. It weaved in and out between the ice shards, not even bothering to launch its own attack on the wizardress.

All the while the wizardress kept on launching brutal attacks towards Vagabond, but the mighty wolf dodged all of them easily. Finally, she wore out and could do nothing more than to roll on the ground and pant. Vagabond stopped moving. It stared at the exhausted maniacal lady. Then it went towards Alyssa. Surprised, the alchemist cast quick looks between the wizardress and Vagabond. Now what does Vagabond want me to do, she mused thoughtfully. Then something occurred in her.

Stepping towards the blue haired lady, she asked loudly, "All right, lady! Vagabond basically defeated you, and your powers are exhausted. Now tell me, who are you and what do you want from me?"

The wizardress shot her a dirty look. "Like I'm going to tell who the heck I am to a twerp like you," she muttered sourly, still trying to regain her strength.

"Oh, is that so? Well, then. Perhaps I should just let this mighty wolf devour you piece by piece. I know he's pretty mad right now at you for trapping the souls of his kin."

The wizardress gasped softly.

"Y-You wouldn't…"

"Oh, you can try me, lady. You're not the only one that can be cruel around here, you know."

The blue haired wizardress shot a quick glance at the silent wolf before returning her attention towards the alchemist. Sighing, she said sourly, "_Fine_, I'll tell you who I am. My name's Crystia Silverstone, Lady of Supreme Magic from the legendary city of Glast Heim."

Alyssa started. Did she just say Glast Heim? She stared at Crystia. "Glast Heim?" she asked unbelievingly. Nodding her head, Crystia looked directly at Alyssa in the eye. "Why, don't you believe it? Is it because you, like many other lump of pathetic creatures believe that the legendary city of Glast Heim? Or is it because you think that the city doesn't exist?" she asked scornfully.

Boy, the alchemist though, for a wizardress that had just been defeated, she was sure arrogant! "I know Glast Heim, and I know its fall," she said, waving her hands about impatiently, "But what I _want_ to know is that why are you after me, and how the heck do you know who I am?"

Crystia tossed her head haughtily and responded, "I…serve…the Dark Master. So I should think you ought to know by now how I know you."

Alyssa stared at her. _Dark Master_ again? What the heck is wrong with the fellow, trying to kill her always? "Wait a minute," she started, "You said you were the Lady of Supreme Magic, so why the heck are you working for that guy?"

"Mind your own business, impudent weakling!"

"Hey, I would mind _that_ mouth if I were you. Don't forget who's the one that had been defeated here."

"That's what you think," smiled the wizardress wickedly.

Suddenly Alyssa felt something punched her straight at her stomach, overthrowing her a few feet back. "Oof," she grunted. Her eyes were already seeing stars as her body was slammed against the rocky wall.

Crystia smiled again and stood up. "Thanks for distracting Vagabond for me, Alyssa. While you were too busy jabbering about I had regained most of my energy. So now, your death awaits you," she said, her energy aura generating powerful winds around her. Alyssa closed her eyes. The last hit between her and that wall had somehow disoriented her coordination. She couldn't even feel her legs.

"Prepare to _die_, Alyssa Quayshua!"

The earth rumbled as spikes of rocks emerged from beneath. The spikes grew taller and deadlier as it made its way fast towards the alchemist. This is the end, Alyssa thought as the spikes continued to come closer, I did my best, and I have lost. I'm so sorry to let everyone down, including you, Goddess Athena.

Suddenly the rumbling stopped. Alyssa slowly opened her eyes, and then she gasped silently. Vagabond had leapt right in front of her and stopped the spikes from coming any closer. How did it do it, she hadn't the faintest idea.

"So you think that dumb wolf of yours can stop me from killing you, huh? Well, _think again_," Crystia snarled. She grabbed her staff violently and concentrated hard. Holding her staff upraised, she chanted out loud,

"_Spirits of nature,_

_Heed my call,_

_With the forces of will, _

_Thou shall soon fall,_

_Let Earth and Ice meet,_

_Prepare their doom,_

_The rocks that bind,_

_The frozen that kills,_

_With this I summon thee,_

_Awaken,_

_**Corporeal Adam's Ale!**_

The ground shuddered once more, but this time, no spikes could be seen. Alyssa watched carefully. The wizardress was up to something, she knew, but what?

Suddenly something knocked her back once more and captured Vagabond. Startled, she looked at the angered wolf and gave a surprised cry. Why, it was _earth_ itself. Shaped into an almost body form, the creature was made out of rocks and clay. At that moment, the earthy creature was holding Vagabond tightly with its elongated arms. Now what is that creature going to do with Vagabond, she pondered as she looked desperately for something to help the helpless beast.

But before she could do anything, something else caught her eye. Something shiny was slithering fast towards the howling wolf. She squinted closer to see what it was and then drew back feeling slightly alarmed. She had seen one of those creatures before. It was in one of her textbooks back when she was studying for her novice survival exams. If that creature was what she thinks it is, then the wolf is in danger, not to mention helpless to stop it.

Alyssa looked around desperately. There must be something she could do! Then something stirred in her mind. It was a song Constance had taught her when she was a toddler. "Now, how did that song go again?" she muttered to herself, all the while her eyes kept track of the slithering creature.

_When life leads to darkness,_

_And soul into blackness,_

_Just lift this tune,_

_And clear the sadness,_

_When light is away,_

_And ice is astray,_

_Use your spirit,_

_Conquer your fears,_

_With what around you,_

_Treasure them well,_

_With hope and faith,_

Just kill them all… 

"With hope and faith…with hope and faith…" Alyssa muttered to herself as the song came flooding back. "Use what is around me," she looked around, and finally spied her sack of items flung from her cart nearby. If only I can reach it, she thought desperately. She struggled to move towards the sack but her legs refused to budge an inch. It was almost as though the wizardress had casted a spell on her legs.

"Wait a minute," she exclaimed aloud, "The frozen that kills? That sounds like…ice!" Almost instinctively she summoned up her protective orb once more. The sphere of fire appeared obligingly. 

"Quick, build a firewall in around Vagabond!" she commanded. She was already concentrating on her own spell of fire. The orb flew towards the wolf and made a wide sphere of protection with its fiery flames. Halfway through her concentration, Alyssa was struck by something cold.

Choking and spluttering, she broke her concentration and stared angrily around, wondering what had broke her summons. "Not so fast, little brat," mocked the voice of that annoying wizardress, "You really think I would just let you do as you wish?"

Crystia tapped her staff reprovingly at Alyssa. The alchemist scowled heavily and tried to get up. "Tut, tut, little brat," Crystia trilled, "You won't be able to move now, thanks to my own personal binding spell I had just cast on you." She stopped and smiled dangerously, "Now, watch and learn, brat!"

Helplessly, Alyssa tried futilely to break the spell. She watched as the icy creature neared the fiery wall. Please let the wall break that creature down, she thought desperately. She struggled and struggled but no avail. The binding spell that the wizardress had cast on her was too strong and powerful. Oh goddess, she cried silently, what am I to do?

_Calm yourself down, girl! A good warrior never admits defeat unless she is forced to! Right now I want you to try and break that spell…_

But it's too strong for me! Alyssa objected in her mind. She dare not speak out loud in case the maniacal wizardress became suspicious of her.

_Don't interrupt me and listen carefully. Deep within you lies a massive amount of what we call spirit powers. Find that powers and use them. Close your eyes now and concentrate hard. Don't let what is happening to the world bother you. It is most important that you are to find that spirit powers! Visualize well, and you will see what I mean…_

"Goddess, don't go!" she cried out involuntarily. Crystia heard her and turned around, a frown marring her expression. "Goddess, huh?" she scorned, "You must be getting pretty desperate to call upon something like that. Now sit still and let me enjoy this show!"

Alyssa glared at her, then settled down. She remembered Lady Athena's words. Concentrate huh? Fine, she'll do as the goddess's had asked. Closing her eyes, she began to visualize an unknown spirit force radiating deep inside her. She didn't know how it looks like, or how it was supposed to feel. But what she knows is that she needs to find it fast…

* * *

_"Wh-Where am I?"_

_Alyssa looked around her in confusion. It was as if she was in a three-dimensional world. The floor was alien to her, as if being made out of nothing but transparent glass. But she could not see anything past it._

"_So, you have awakened, have you not?"_

_Startled, Alyssa looked around. It was a man. Or rather, it looked like a man to her. Dress in black garments, he had what looked like dirtied bandages wrapping all around his body and his face partially. Somehow his odd appearance reminded her of the usual garments of an assassin._

"_Who are you," she breathed softly, hardly daring to ask._

"_You should know who I am, little mistress, just like I know you," came the reply._

_The alchemist's eyes widened. What the heck was this guy crapping about? And why did he call her his little mistress? The assassin look-alike shook his head slightly and said, "Listen to your heart, little mistress. You should know who I am. I am the one that helped you when you needed me the most. I am the one that was with you when you were in troubles."_

_Alyssa stared deep into the mysterious stranger's eyes. Something about them looked familiar…_

"_Why, you're Elias!" she exclaimed in surprise. 'Elias' bowed slightly. Then he looked directly at Alyssa and said, "There is not much time now, little mistress. I need you to find me. Somewhere within this area lies a box filled with spirit force. In that spirit force lies a weapon designed specially for its wielder, and that is you. Find that box before it's too late…"_

"_Hey, what do you me-"_

_Elias disappeared, leaving the alchemist staring blankly at the empty space in confusion. Box? She looked around her. There was nothing but vast emptiness and more glass. Dammit, she scowled to herself. Now what the heck am I to do?_

_She got up albeit unsteadily and started to walk towards one direction. It was almost as though she was in a place where there were no walls at all, except for the ceiling and the floor. "Box, what box?" she pondered as she looked around for something she did not even know how it would look like._

"_Damn you, Elias! Aren't you supposed to be helping me?" she muttered angrily to herself while her eyes darted here and there, hoping to find something that contrasts from the picture. Elias was her imaginary friend, or at least she _had_ though he was her imaginary friend. When she was young, she used to have the impression that someone was always looking out for her. It wasn't her father, who was busy with his own built up business. It wasn't her mother either, who was a priestess that sacrificed herself during a raging war between elves and humans. It definitely wasn't her sister, for she was too busy bullying her then._

_It was Elias. _"Who are you?"_ she had asked. Being young, she felt unafraid of the mysterious stranger. It was almost as though her mind had recognized him even before she did. _"I am Elias, little mistress. And I am here to be with you,"_ came the gruff reply._

_Alyssa shook her head and sighed. She recalled those hard times when she tried to tell her parents about Elias, but they just wouldn't take it seriously. They had assumed that Elias was just another imaginary friend of hers. Partly, what they had assumed was true. Elias _was_ imaginary. But he was also a part of her. As the oddly garbed man had once explained to her, he was born from her spirit forces that lie inside her. He was there to protect, and to guide her in her path. But Alyssa did not understand anything back then. To her, Elias was there to be her playmate, and that he will always be with her._

_But things had changed. The day her parents were killed, and the day her sister had stopped smiling for a long time, was the day she stopped interacting with Elias. She supposed it was because there was too much grief, and too much guilt in her. Guilt that is based on her belief that her parents had died because she believed in Elias too much, even though they had told her not to. The sense of guilt had consumed her badly that she altogether had become a silent and unresponsive child._

_Only when she had reached the age of ten did she begin to smile and talk once more. Alyssa racked her brains, trying to figure out what had made her do so once more. Elias! She realized. It was him again that had made her smile. It was his warmth and protectiveness that had made her feel whole again. It was him that had told her to be strong for her sister, Constance. And it was him whom had told her that a smile could be given freely to others, to cheer them up and to give them hope and courage._

"_Oh Elias, how I missed you so," she murmured softly, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye, "We lost so much time together. And I did not even bother to acknowledge you one bit, even after all of these years you had been there for me."_

_Suddenly, a spot of bright light emanated in front of her. The light grew bigger and brighter that Alyssa was forced to shade her eyes. Finally, even through her closed eyelids the light had managed to penetrate into, and Alyssa cried aloud in pain._

_Then just as sudden as it had appeared, the light dissipated. Cautiously, Alyssa opened her eyes once more. Then her eyes widened. "Elias!" she cried. The dark, lonesome creature was in front of her, smiling slightly beneath his bandages._

"_I'm glad that you have finally realized, little mistress," he bowed slightly and continued, "But there is no time to waste. You must understand, little mistress, that I am here to serve. And you must understand as well, that I am your spirit force. What lies beneath your soul is me. And I am here to protect you from anyone that has enmity towards you."_

"_Oh Elias, I'm so sorry I had forgotten about you! I'm so sorry that I didn't even bother to acknowledge you," she cried._

_Elias looked at his 'little' mistress calmly. "Those are all water under the bridge now, little mistress. Do not worry so much about it. I knew that when the time was right you would remember me once more. And this is the time now," came the soothing reply. Then he straightened and said seriously, "But now, little mistress, I need you to be brave once more. Right now, you are in your own realm in your mind. When you leave this place, I want you to call out my name and find the spirit force within you. Use me as a weapon then, and I will help you vanquish the Earth and Ice Demons Crystia had summoned."_

_Alyssa nodded slowly. Then she asked, "But what about the box?"_

"_The box that you are so worried about, little mistress," he said, "is no other than your own memories. I wanted you to find out everything yourself, without my help. Only then you will understand the true power you hold within you. Now, there is no time to waste. Leave this realm and enter reality before it's too late!"

* * *

_

Alyssa woke up with a start. Was it a dream, she wondered, or was it real?

Hurry, little mistress! There is no time to lose! 

"Aah, so it was true!" she cried softly. Then she closed her eyes once more and tried to feel the spirit force both Goddess Athena and Elias had mentioned. Already she could feel something surging in her veins; something strong.

"Elias, I command you to serve and protect!" she cried out loud, her eyes still remained shut, "I command you to leave the bindings of the other realm and reborn as a protector in this realm!"

"What the-" the wizardress whirled around in surprise when she heard Alyssa crying those words out loud. She was even more astonished to find a thick swirl of cloud fogging up her peripheral view.

"I serve to protect, and I serve to help," a deep voice spoke out from the swirling thickness. As the wizardress watched in amazement, a mysterious man appeared and flicked a glance at her. Before Crystia could even utter a single word, the man, whom was Elias, disappeared. She blinked her eyes. Where did that man go?

"Look behind you, Crystia," said Alyssa, almost wearily. Her energy was slowly seeping away from her even as she spoke. There was a loud clash between metal and something solid. Crystia looked around hurriedly. She bit back an exclamation.

Elias had somehow managed to block the Ice Beast's attack using a sort of power shield. Then, using his right hand, he placed it right in front of the beast's face and uttered a few soft words; his fingers moving rapidly as if writing something from the air. The Ice Beast gave a loud howl and began to struggle with itself. As Elias moved his fingers faster, the beast's face began to contort and struggled even more. Then finally, he raised his right hand upwards and shouted a powerful fire spell. Great white sparks appeared on the beast's body and it began to set it on fire.

"No way," Crystia breathed incredulously, "This cannot be! My Ice Beast is invincible!"

"Well then, Crystia, I suppose like any other frozen piece of lump is vulnerable to heat in the end," said Alyssa, struggling to keep awake. Already her bottom half was falling asleep and her upper half was too weary to even lift a finger.

The wizardress suddenly pointed a finger at her and shrieked, "_You_! This is all your fault! The Dark Master will kill you for this! _I_ will kill you for this!" She raised both hands and prepared to cast a spell that only top ranked wizards and wizardress could cast: the Lord of Vermillion. It was the most difficult spell for a mage to conquer, and very few could escape the wrath of this spell.

Alyssa merely closed her eyes. Both her mind and body were too exhausted to even neither move nor think. Dimly, she could her the crumbling sounds of the Rock Beast being slashed into pieces; and that the Vagabond was free once more. But she couldn't even lift an eyelid anymore. The energy in her was thoroughly drained when she summoned Elias out.

Before she blacked out, she could her Crystia screams mingled with the howls of fury from Vagabond. Then, at last, she heard no more.


	17. Family Reunion

_A/N: This was an extremely slow update..haha.Thanks Tom, for reviewing my previous chapter. I think you were the only one that had actually reviewed it anyway.Heh. Anyway, I'm getting rather busy here so updates will be slower and slower for me. Nevertheless, I'll see what I can do about updating A.S.A.P. I present to you Chapter16, though it's rather messy and perhaps uneventful. I'm really out of ideas! xX Hopeto hear from those that had read theseI want to know how you feel about it,good or otherwise. _

**Chapter 16: Family Reunion**

"Damn! What happened?" cursed Shenzein loudly. He banged his hand uselessly on the rocky barrier that had just separated him from Alyssa. He heard Anexia cursed something under her breath behind him. Turning around, he looked at the both of them expectantly.

"Well, any ideas?"

Astrexil shook his head and sighed. "None here," he said. His sister shook her head frustratedly as well. Shenzein growled something under his breath and clenched his fist tightly. He tried to blast the wall with a fire spell he had learnt just recently. It was a powerful spell, and it would take up about a quarter of his energy. His fist began to glow as he concentrated on the spell. It took time and diligence to actually control the strength of the spell. Fire, being the most difficult element to master, only chooses its wielder that is able to control and rein a tight leash on its seductive powers.

He uttered a short bark and unleashed thousands of fiery ribbons at the wall. As soon as those ribbons all but touched the rocky surface, they burst into flames and emitted a powerful blow on it. Clouds of dust swirled around thickly when the spell exploded. Coughing, Shenzein looked up triumphantly, confident that his spell had made at least a hole on the rocky wall. To his utter astonishment and disgust, there wasn't even a scratch on it!

Growling in anger, he redirected his energy again on his fists, preparing to hit the wall with the same spell. Perhaps a few blows would leave a dumb hole there, he thought as he blasted off those ribbons a few times more. The clouds of dust grew thicker and thicker as the aftermath of the spell. But the wall remained erect and unharmed.

From a distance, Anexia stared at the futile efforts of the sage. She sighed impatiently. "As if those puny spells could even penetrate past that wall," she muttered to herself. She had scanned the wall earlier for any vulnerable spots but had come up with none. Whoever conjured up that rocky wall was a perfectionist and a powerful mage. Even if she combined her physical attacks with Shenzein's fiery ones, she doubted if it would leave even a scratch on the massive wall.

Finally, the sage stopped attacking and slumped on the ground, exhausted. Astrexil looked at the sage and sighed. He was being rash again, he thought as he restored Shenzein's energy.

"Look, I doubt if we can break past this massive wall in the first place, Shein. How about we just let it be and find a way past it without any assaults?" he said reasonably. "That would mean less energy consuming anyway!"

Anexia looked at her brother thoughtfully. He did have a point there. Being rash and illogical was a waste of time-but will Shenzein accept that fact coolly?

Shenzein sighed. "All right, Trexxy! Let's go," he said, pulling himself up. Just then, he heard a cold voice reverberating around him.

"_No one is going nowhere today. Be prepared to die, you fools!_"

. Startled, he looked around, only to find his friends gaping in astonishment as well. "Who is there?" he called out cautiously, his eyes scanning around for any signs of movement.

"_Can you not see where I am, fool? I am here, right in front of you!"_

There was a sudden burst of light and smoke. The startled party automatically shielded their eyes and tried to peer through the thick smoke. Finally, for what seemed like eons, a figure appeared right in front of them.

Shenzein stared at the person in front of him. It was a man bedecked in a rather strange crusader's suit. His eyes were blood red and strands of ebony hair hung limply around his face. His mouth was twisted in a way Shenzein could only assume as a smirk. His garments were the oddest of them all. Made out of dark metalloid pieces, his armor was encased with odd squiggles that looked suspiciously like runes from the Old Kingdom. The dark crusader did not wear a helm at all, which was a surprise. It was customary for all crusaders and knights to wear their helms as a badge of honor. Then again, these dark crusader in front of him does not look like and crusaders he had seen before.

At the same time, Anexia was doing a bit of survey on the strange person as well. She scanned the stranger's physique rapidly. It would be wise to know at least what they would be dealing with later. "_Prepare to die,_" he had said earlier. Grimly, Anexia tightened her grip on her katars and readied herself for any sudden attacks.

"Who _are_ you?"

Slowly, the dark crusader turned around and faced the sage. "I am your past, Shen'nerezein Zephyrthros," he said slowly. "As well as your present, and your future!"

Shenzein stared at the heavy lidded stranger in front of him. No one, not even Alyssa, had known his real name. Damn, he thought, who the heck is this guy? But even as he pondered on that question, something was nagging inside his head. There was something familiar about the crusader in front of him…

The crusader's mouth curved slightly and suddenly disappeared into thin air. Surprised, Shenzein blinked once but at once his senses quivered. Uttering a short exclamation, he glanced upwards and quickly found out that the dark-haired man was right above him preparing to attack. As quick as thought he dodged the attack and landed gracefully on fours.

"Damn," cursed Anexia as she gripped her katars tightly and launched herself forward. The crusader was swift-too swift. She was surprised at first when the crusader had disappeared from their peripheral view. By right crusaders are ordinarily being too hampered down by their heavy armor to be agile and swift, but this dark crusader proved otherwise. She could sense her brother's surprise as well as she dashed by Shenzein's side.

The crusader gazed at the assassin coolly. Again, he disappeared at sight and reappeared a few seconds later behind Anexia, his dark mettaloid sword glinting against the sunlight as he raised it above his head. Startled, Anexia could only try to parry with her katars. The blow was shatteringly painful. Even as she tried to block the attack, she could feel the cool blade slicing her shoulder in one clean cut. Wincing with pain, she wrenched herself free and gazed at her hands disbelievingly. Both her katars were shattered. Her hands that once held their most treasured prize are now coated with blood as the shards of the remnants of the katars pierced them.

"Anne!"

Both men looked at the assassin in horror. Shenzein quickly got up and glared angrily at the dark crusader. A sudden thought occurred to him. "You are Shan'e'rizegan, aren't you?" he asked quietly. His eyes glittered dangerously as he looked at the silent crusader. At the corner of his eye he saw the priest making his way to his sister.

"What do you think, little brother?" mocked the crusader darkly.

Shenzein nodded his head grimly as he faced the crusader. Now he realized why he had felt that he knew this man in front of him. Shan'e'rizegan, or Shane in short, was his brother. '_Was'_ is definitely the right word for it. Shan'e'rizegan, or Shane for short, was his elder brother-the black sheep of the family.

"So it _is_ you then," he said clearly, looking at Shane directly at his eyes, "To what honor do I have to actually meet you face to face now?" He said the last sentence mockingly.

"Simple. I am here to kill you. All of you," came the cold and emotionless reply.

Shenzein narrowed his eyes and bit out, "We'll just see about that, _brother_." He gripped his staff tightly and prepared a fast spell. At the corner of his eye, he glanced at Astrexil for support. The priest caught his glance and nodded. Astrexil stood up quickly and mentally summoned supportive prayers for the sage. "Agility and defense, may you lighten his path," he murmured softly, directing the holy prayers to Shenzein. Then he turned back to his sister and resumed his task.

"Never mind me, brother. Go help _him_," gritted out Anexia, her forehead wrinkling as she tried to hold back the pain. The blow on her hands was beginning to hurt her like mad. Lifting her injured arms, she shooed her brother away and took a small vial from her pouch. "Let us hope you will help me, my little friend," she muttered to herself. She uncorked the vial and swallowed the contents in one gulp. In just a matter of seconds, she could feel that the pain had ceased from her hands. She looked down and smiled. There was not a scratch that could be seen on both her hands anymore. It had worked.

"Now, my next problem is, what am I going to use as a weapon," she said to herself. Then she remembered. She quickly rummaged through her brother's knapsack that he had carelessly flung aside and produced a pair of twin daggers triumphantly. "Thank goodness he nagged at me at bringing spare weapons and brought them himself for me," she muttered gratefully.

She glanced at the battle scene in front of her, surveying the damage the dark crusader had caused. Shenzein's brother eh, she thought cryptically. Nevertheless, she saw that both the sage and her brother were tiring out fast. Stooping down, she grabbed two bottles filled with sky-blue potions and uncorked them quickly. She secured her twin daggers by her side and held each bottle with her hands, careful not to spill any precious liquid.

Then, concentrating hard, she dashed forward. By avoiding the aftermath of the three men's attacks, she managed to get close to her mates. "Shein! Trexxy! Drink this, _fast_! I'll take over for awhile," she shouted as she pushed the bottles into their hands. She undid the daggers and took a firm hold on it. Grimly, she eyed the crusader. She knew now that she had overestimated her opponent.

The dark crusader stared at her for a few moments, as though hardly believing that an assassin had just stepped in to parry him. His mouth quirked into a slight smile. "Well, well," he mused, "Looks like I have a little plaything to toy about while waiting for you to gain back your stamina, little brother. I have to thank you for that."

Anexia gritted her teeth. That obnoxious crusader! She'll show him how skilled she is at her breakneck skills. "Never mess around with an assassin, crusader!" she bit out. Gripping her twin daggers tightly, she readied herself in a fighting stance. She observed her surroundings, taking note of each and every detail and stored them in her mind. Although it might seem unnecessary, those details might come in handy later. Anexia had been taught thoroughly about that, especially when it was her parents that had taught her about it.

"I admire your determination, girl! But you will never win me," Shane, or the dark crusader, called out, "But since I am in a generous mood today, I'll let you go first. Don't waste this chance and disappoint me now!"

Again, Anexia gnashed her teeth angrily. Really, that guy was getting on her nerves! Her eyes roved about all the time, calculating the speed and limit she has to reach to that crusader. She made a few mental calculations as she surveyed the distance and the cumbersome factors barring her ways. Then she smiled grimly. That was the only way, she supposed.

She charged forward, her eyes narrowed as she concentrated on her opponent in front of her. The crusader's stance seemed rather lax, but she wouldn't count on him relaxing his blows on her. The fact that her prized katars were smashed to bits was still imprinted deeply in her mind. In less than a second, she covered almost half of the distance between them, closing the gap rapidly. Yet, the crusader's pose remained unshakeable.

Anexia gritted her teeth. That guy is really pissing me off man, she thought as she charged on. Her hair was already streaming back from the speed and the wind was slowing her down slightly. She quickly shifted her position as she ran and almost instantly, the wind was on her side instead of being against her. The simple rule of being an assassin, she said to herself, was to learn how to adapt and create advantages from the disadvantages.

Just a bit more, she thought grimly, her hands were forced backwards due to the momentum she had created on herself. She quickly divided her attention into two: her opponent and her right hand. _A bit more…now!_ She wrenched her right hand from its current state and plunged it straight into her small waist pouch. She felt the coarse powder inside slithering between her fingers as she took a firm grip on them.

Her eyes narrowed into slits as she concentrated hard forward. Finally, when the distance between them became shorter, she cloaked herself from his peripheral view and flung the powder straight ahead. As soon as the powder touched the ground, the land rumbled and large, intimidating spikes broke the soil apart. The spikes grew as it multiplied its way towards the crusader.

Even as she concentrated on that particularly tough skill, she could see that she had taken the crusader totally out of surprise. Anexia smiled grimly. "I'm not totally done with you yet, man!" she muttered to herself. She moved towards another spot as fast as she could-being invisible hampers one's agility drastically-and casted the same attack. Without stopping, she went from one spot to the other while manipulating the same skill again and again. While this might be unwise, the assassin wanted to buy her mates some time and at the same time, try to hamper and weaken their opponent.

Finally, she stopped her pace. Already, her energy was used up summoning that particular skill of hers. She eyed the spiked spot warily. The spikes had started from where she began to the crusader. Since she had performed that skill numerous times from various places, the spikes had grown steadily from a molehill to a miniature mountain towards the spot the crusader had stood. Somehow the effect reminded her of a twisted star, with the thick forest of spikes right in the center of it.

"Anne! You okay there?"

Anexia glanced up. It was Shenzein speaking to her, eyeing her anxiously. She smiled slightly. "I'm fine, Shein! But could you please tell my lovely brother to help me regain my strength here?" she called out, her voice wavered slightly.

"Hey," said Astrexil in a slightly injured voice, "I'm right here you know. No need to send a messenger when the person you want to speak to is right over here."

The assassin grinned. "I know you are, bro. Just felt like teasing you, that's all," she said soothingly. Astrexil sighed and went to his sister. Shenzein watched those two and shook his head ruefully. Anexia is really one heck of a girl, he thought. He shifted his glance at the earthen spikes she had created.

"Grimtooth, the specialty of an assassin," he murmured thoughtfully. He had read it somewhere that Grimtooth, the earthen elemental skill, was a skill taught by the very first assassin that had been brought into Rune Midgard to his children. Although powerful, it is extremely hard to manage as one had to focus their concentration solely on the skill and if that concentration were to be disrupted, the penalty would be disastrous.

"Anexia Kristos," he mused, "Just who are you?" Just then a sudden movement caught his eye. He stopped dead on his tracks and his eyes narrowed. Did the spikes just quivered back then? He looked at it closely. Then all of a sudden, he turned around and shouted at the startled siblings.

"Anne! Trexxy! Stand guard! That bastard's still alive in there!"

"What, _impossible_!"

"Just stand guard, Anne! I just hope I'm wrong about it…"

Standing upright in a defending stance, Shenzein gazed warily at the upraised spikes. This time, the quakes were even more visible. Anexia paled slightly at the thought that even her Grimtooth had failed her. But she stood her ground, clenching her twin daggers tightly. _No matter what happens, I'll stand my ground and fight! We still need to find Alyssa and continue what we had started,_ she vowed silently.

The quakes grew violent. Suddenly, it stopped. Anexia barely relaxed her grip in relief when the bindings of Grimtooth exploded. Shards hardened earth flew everywhere and the three of them had to exercise great care not to be hit by any of them.

"Is that all you've got, little girl? Then I'm very much afraid you will die in my hands!"

The taunting voice arose as they shielded their eyes as well as their body. Anexia didn't need sharpened rocks to pierce her to feel what she was feeling now-pure hatred. She hated the way that lousy piece of metal-scrap taunts her. She hated the fact that her Grimtooth had failed. Worse of all, she hated the way her heart was racing erratically. She had no idea why though, but she assumed that it was all part of the adrenaline she was feeling at the moment.

Shenzein wasn't feeling too great about this either. Deep inside, he realized that it was a lost situation for them. Shane was a great warrior, if his memory serves him well. The crusader had led many troops in war once, and never once did he return without victory and a dying troop. _But what can I do,_ he wondered. Then an idea came up to him. "Yes…yes…that is the only way," he said softly to himself.

He backed off slowly until he was beside Anexia and her brother. "Anne," he muttered by the side of his mouth, "When I give the signal, both of you make a run for it. No, don't bother protesting! I know my brother and I know his strength. Both of you won't stand a chance against him. Now listen, I need you to find Alyssa. Find her, and then find her friend, Earilith. The both of them should not be separated anymore, okay? Leave Shane to me."

Anexia opened her mouth as if to protest but closed it back abruptly. She nodded grimly. Family affairs was one thing that she never did like getting involved in, and this was one of that times family affairs has interfered. She whispered softly to her brother. Astrexil looked outraged and started to reply, but the assassin merely said a few sharp words. Subdued, the priest nodded his head and stared at Shenzein. The sage smiled slightly. Anexia could be such a domineering queen at times.

He focused back on the crusader. "Shane, this battle is between you and me now. I will never let you uproot our family's honour anymore!" he shouted, brandishing his staff. The crusader looked at him emotionlessly and nodded.

"Very well, if that is what you wish, then you shall die first," came the reply.

Shenzein tensed and prepared himself quickly. He glanced at the two siblings at the corner of his eye and gave a slight nod. Anexia nodded in return and grabbed her brother's hand. Quickly, she made a few quick movements using her free hand while muttering something. The both of them suddenly disappeared. Shenzein smiled again. Anexia was one surprising girl, he thought. Invisibility, another skill an assassin should own. Only hers was more complex. He surmised that she had created that skill herself since it was not recorded in any of the ancient books of power.

Shane watched the other two leave and said nothing at first. Then he opened his mouth and said, "Well, I can hunt them later anyway. But for now, let's fight!"

Shenzein focused his attention back to his brother and smiled grimly. Yes, it was time to settle this once and for all. He mentally prayed that those two will be alright and stood in a defense stance. It was time for a bloody battle…


	18. A New Companion

_A/N: At Last! I'm done with Chapter 17! It took me so long to conjure up a continuation for this story man..hahahaha...well, hope you'll enjoy it! It's a rather short one this time cause I'm outta ideas (_

**Chapter 17: A New Companion**

Earlith trudged wearily along the rocky roads. Finally, she was at the dense tropical forests of Mount Mjolnir. The huntress had been walking for days ever since she last saw Goddess Artemis.

"Great, figure out the rest for myself, huh?" she muttered to herself as she walked steadily along the path, "So now how am I supposed to find them in this thick forest?" She shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably and hoisted her arbalest on her back to a more comfortable position. Her fingers then readjusted the straps clinging to her barrel of arrows, trying to seek more comfort for her aching shoulders. Finally she held on to her medium-sized satchel for a moment, burdening her arms with its weight instead of her shoulders.

"Drat Alyssa," she continued to mutter to herself, "Why is it that trouble always seek for her?" Even as she walked and muttered, her sharp eyes never cease to keep a lookout for any ambushed danger hidden anywhere close. If there was anything she was proud of in being a huntress, it was her perfectly honed senses that molds with nature. She could detect even a slightest twinge of a lunatic that lie hidden among the bushes and knowing what is was.

Her mind wandered just as she wandered physically. Mentally, she began recollecting her thoughts and pieced them together slowly, trying to gain a clearer picture of the recent happenings. That sage, she remembered suddenly, it had all started from him. Shenzein Zephyrthros, the former magician that had rescued her from an orc that had tried to attack her back then. The huntress frowned slightly. What had he to do with the recent happenings?

Then she remembered her friend's expression when she had first saw him unconscious. "Hard to say, but I seriously think that means something for sure," she said to herself. Her eyes continued to rove around sharply for any odd movements as she thought deeply. Then there were Astrexil and her sister. What did they have to do with all this? Could they somehow be part of the whole weird harum-scarum?

She shook her head in confusion, as though trying to brush off the cobwebs from her head. _This is all getting too weird for me,_ she thought irritably. She then looked up. Her falcon, Stigma, was still flying on higher grounds. She was getting pretty fond with that bird. Stigma was indeed an unusual bird. It could sense when the huntress is distressed and would try to comfort her. Right now, the falcon was becoming her eyes, and would try to locate Alyssa from the skies.

Suddenly, Stigma gave a loud cry. The next instant, the ground began to shake. It was just a slight movement at the beginning, but it was enough to put Earilith on guard. She quickly stood, legs apart, and braced for the worst. Sure enough, the quake grew harsher and stronger. Quickly. The huntress flung herself on the ground. It was wisest to stay low when a quake occurred, for it reduces the risk of being injured.

"_Now_ what?" she exclaimed out loud as she got closer to the ground. Her body was parallel with the earthen floor as she tried to peer out what was going on. Finally, she noticed a small, thin crack from afar. She exclaimed once more and quickly tried to move towards her right. The thin crack that she had noticed was a crack on the ground; in other words, it was becoming a deep hole of nothingness.

The gaping line was getting too close for comfort. Even from afar, she noticed that jagged rocks had emerged from the line, sliding and rising to merge into one large wall. As quick as thought, Earilith moved even further to avoid the approaching cracks and rocks. With a stroke of pure luck, she had managed to escape fatality. A large spiked rock had just emerged from where she was a moment ago. Her heart pounding, the huntress could only stare at the newly-built barrier in front of her.

The wall continued to form as it went on. After a while, the horror subsided and only a tinge of rumble could be heard from afar. She wondered how far would the wall build up before it stops. Picking herself up, she brushed off the dirt from her clothes and scanned the rocky wall. Going closer, she raised her right hand and tapped gently on the earthen surface.

"Hmm," she mused, "It seems real enough. But why would anyone try to build a wall here? Unless…"

Something dawned in her mind. Picking up her arbalest that she had accidentally dropped during the quake, she whistled for her falcon. "Stigma," she called out, "Go scout ahead and return to me, okay?"

The majestic bird appeared out of nowhere from the sky and gave an answering reply before flying strongly towards the east, where the wall had come from. Without wasting any more time, the huntress herself ran behind her falcon.

Her mind raced with numerous possibilities. Could it be at last, she will find Alyssa? Or would it be just another false alarm? But after a few hundred steps, trouble brewed around her. There was a commotion somewhere in front of her. Stopping abruptly, the huntress automatically hid herself behind a clump of bushes nearby and moved ahead silently. To her surprise, she saw a raccoon-like animal crouching in fear in front of a group of leering wolves. A smokie?

Earilith took one look at the poor frightened animal and her heart went out for it. Taking a deep breath, she gripped her arbalest with her left hand and carefully drew out two sharp silver arrows from her bow case on her back. With precise aims, she released the arrows at the same time. Her shots hit its mark. Within seconds, two wolves crashed into an ungainly heap; dead. Caught by surprise, the remaining three wolves howled and backed off slowly, sniffing about for all its worth.

The huntress took two more arrows and fired them once more, causing two more to fall dead on the ground. The remaining wolf growled and whimpered at the same time, backing off from its dead companions. Then it turned tail and fled.

Earilith got up, satisfied. "Hmm, four out of five. Not bad," she murmured to herself. Then she noticed the frightened animal still cowering by the bushes.

"Hey there, little fella. Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," she crooned gently, stooping down slowly beside it. The smokie shrank back and tried to attack the huntress.

"It's all right, little one. Come on out o-yeouch!" she grimaced as she checked her finger which the creature had bit. Time for another tactic. She slipped her hand into her pouch and brought out a half-baked yam. She had meant to have it for a snack later on, but she supposed that the smokie needed it more than her anyway.

"Here you go, little fella. No need to be scared now," she wheedled as she placed the yam slowly in front of the creature. The smokie backed off a bit, baring its teeth for all its worth. Then slowly, as if attracted to the food offered, it left its hiding place slowly and inched its way closer to the yam. It sniffed the peace offering for a while before snatching it and backing off again into the bushes.

As Earilith watched, the smokie tore out the skin of the yam and started to gobble up the rich contents. "Hungry, aren't ya?" she said caustically. She waited patiently for the creature to wolf down the yam. She didn't have to wait long. The smokie had wolfed down the food given within seconds.

Looking inquiringly at the huntress, it took a tentative step forward. Earilith smiled encouragingly but did not make any move. If she did, the creature would flee in panic. Slowly, step by step, the smokie crept closer. When it was finally a hair's breath from the huntress's hand, Earilith slowly and cautiously moved her hand slightly so that her fingers touched its head lightly.

The creature moved back in alarm. Again, the huntress stilled her movement and made soft crooning noises. After a while, the smokie regained its courage and stepped forward. This time, it did not shrink back when she stroked its head gingerly. In fact, it crooned with delight.

Earilith smiled. The creature was playful after all. "You are really one cute fella, ain't ya?" she said as she tickled it under its furry chin. The smokie was indeed a cute one. With large deep-brown patches around its eyes and a green leaf that seems to be stuck on its head, it gave an aura of innocence around it.

She gave the creature one more piece of her yam. Finally, she stood up. She had just remembered what she was about to do before she was interrupted. "How could I forget!" she exclaimed. Slipping her pouch around her waist once more, she picked up her arbalest and slung it around her shoulders diagonally. Stooping down to pet the creature once more, she began to set off.

She did not even walk more than a hundred steps when she heard a sound behind her. Tensing, her hand flew to her arbalest as she swung around. Her eyes scanned everywhere for enemies but to her surprise, she only saw the smokie she had saved earlier.

"Hey there, little fella. Didya follow me now?" she asked, bending down to stroke its head. The creature looked inquiringly at the huntress and stood on its two hind legs. The huntress petted its head again and turned around to leave.

The creature stared at the departing huntress for awhile with its head cocked on one side. Then it bounded off and followed her from behind. Again, Earilith turned around to find it standing inquiringly behind her.

"Hmm, you want to follow me, little one?" she asked the smokie. The creature looked at the huntress and leapt up onto her chest. Surprised, Earilith managed to grab the smokie right as it reached her chest. "I'll take that as a yes," she smiled. Then she looked at her newfound companion.

"Hmm…now what shall I call you," she mused out loud as she stroked it on its head. Then she snapped her fingers. "Ah I know! I shall call you Shadowdance since you have been following me like a shadow since just now, and that you look like your dancing when you stood up on your hind legs just now!" she said cheerfully.

. The smokie merely licked at the huntress's fingers. Earilith laughed and stroked her new pet. Then, setting it down, she continued her journey. Shadowdance followed her from behind quietly, stopping every now and then to cling on Earilith's leg as though tired of walking. Finally, the huntress bent down and collected the smokie into her arms. Then she continued her journey.


	19. Recollections

_And so here is the next chapter...so sorry for this extremely slow update guys! I'll be having my finals soon so I can't really spend so much time writing this up. Somehow I think this chapter itself is weird in some ways, but ah heck, I'll ket you guys be the judge of it ) Thanks again for all your supports! Muahx! x_

**Chapter 18: Recollection**

_Twinkle, twinkle little star..._

Hazily, Alyssa opened her eyes, only to wince at the harsh light that greeted her. She shut her eyes almost immediately and succumbed into the sweet bliss of darkness. Her entire body felt sore, as if she had just completed one of Uncle Dominic's vigorous training in her early years. Every single fibre of her muscles screamed with agony at each slight movement. Slowly, she opened eyes eyes once more; her pupils dilating slightly to accept the streaming light little by little. Dimly, she heard a deep timbre voice spoke out.

"Rest, mistress. Rest, and gain your energy that you have lost. I will take care of everything for now."

The next thing she knew, something coarse and dry touched her cheek before she felt her body being engulfed with a warm, furry body. _Vagabond_, she thought as she embraced the warmth from the wolf's body.

_Elias..._

With that last comforting thought, Alyssa soon fell into sweet oblivion once more...

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"Hurry up, sis!" Astrexil beckoned impatiently at his lagging sister. Anexia glared at him and picked up her sluggish pace.

"So I'm hurrying. But where to, may I ask?" she grumbled. Astrexil remained silent. True, where were they heading to? _Run_, Sheinzein had said. But where to? _Find Alyssa_, he said. But how? Astrexil contemplated these thoughts as he moved ahead absent-mindedly.

"Hey, watch out!"

Startled by the shout, Astrexil stopped just in time. He narrowly missed smashing his nose headlong right into a tree by a few inches. Turning around, he looked at his sister ruefully.

"Thanks, sis!"

Anexia grinned and motioned him to carry on. The priest nodded and resumed his pace, lost in thoughts once more. "Hey, let's go on for a while more. Then, we stop for a break," he suggested. And I can try to figure out what are we to do next at the same time, he said to himself. Her sister merely grunted and nodded her head, her champange blonde hair streaming behind her like a mist of gold as she scouted ahead for any dangers.

Then suddenly, she stopped abruptly, causing Astrexil who was still in deep thought to crash on her ungainly. "Oof!" he grunted as he landed on his sister's body. Picking himself up, he reached out a hand and helped to pull his sister up. "Now what was that for?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Anexia stared accusingly at her brother, her amber eyes flashing furiously. "You idiot! Please don't tell me you had forgotten the fact that you have the ability to teleport us away from here!" she said.

Deep aquamarine eyes met those flashing ambers. It's amazing how they almost look alike by any possible means, and yet their eyes are two opposites just like their characters, he marveled to himself. He said aloud, "Oh come on, Annie! Please don't tell me you really want to leave our friends behind just like that! Have a heart!"

Anexia fell silent. That little fact had indeed left her mind momentarily. Then another thought occured to her. "How about we leave here to get some back up? After all, we need all the help we can get right?" she suggested with clarity.

"You have got to be kidding me, my dear sister!"

"What? It sounds like a good plan to me! We do need help right? What better way there is than to go get for help?"

Astexil sighed. "Annie, we can't leave our friends here no matter how bad the situation is. No, we can't go for help. At the moment, we can't even trust anyone! Don't forget, our goal here is to make sure Alyssa's fit and alive. If she falls into the hands of that Bloodied Knight..." He shuddered.

His sister started to open her mouth to object but closed again when he left the last sentence hanging. She sighed. He was right, again. "I hate it when you're right," she grumbled. He grinned. "That's what brothers are here for, my dear sister, to be right when you're wrong!" he joked playfully. Anexia stuck her tongue out at him at that.

Astrexil sobered up almost immediately and looked around thoughtfully for a few moments. "I think we can rest here for awhile. We need to conserve our energy as much as possible," he said as he sat cross-legged on the hard ground. Then he closed his eyes and struck up a pose of meditation. His sister gave him a long look before sitting down as well. She knew quite well what her brother was doing and was wise enough not to disturb him. She sat cross-legged and closed her eyes for a few seconds. Although she was no expert in the laws of magick, she did know how to regain her strength and stamina faster. Her father was a priest like her twin brother, and he had taught her the simple basics of regeneration as survival training.

She closed her mind to everything and imagined that there was a single pinprick of light right ahead of her. As she walked along the dark path of her mind, she visualised herself getting closer towards that light. Then she imagined that light became a large golden door right in front of her. _A few steps more..._she thought, concentrating hard. She imagined herself walking a dozen of steps ahead until she reached that door. In her mind, she stretched out her hand and opened that door. Then she opened her eyes and smiled in approval. She could feel her energy restoring itself back into its normal state in her body almost immediately. "Good ol' meditation, it never fails me," she grinned to herself. She glanced at her brother again and sighed. He was still meditating.

Ah well, she thought, better not disturb him for the time being. She got up and looked around thoughtfully. Now what was it her mother had used to tell them when they were kids? "Oh yeah," she muttered, "If you're stuck in a sticky situation where you don't know what to do next, take some time and welcome Mother Nature in your arms."

Anexia took a deep breath and took in her surroundings. The breezy air and the lush surroundings helped to calm her senses tremendously. She smiled to herself. Again, her folks's had taught them well.

Recollecting her thoughts, she tried to recall what her parents had told them a long time ago.

_"The Kristos clan has always been the guardian of the Jewel of Radiance, my dear children. Long ago there was a time when we had actually held that jewel in our hands, where it was set in a temple filled with nothing but everlasting illumination. The temple was built on every daybreak there ever was to ensure that only the purest rays of light shall shine upon the marvellous lumosity of the jewel. The walls were made from a unique self-hardening clay that was invented by a famous alchemist; Archeria Syth Harlienne. The clay was not only sturdy and could withstand powerful heat, it was half as heavy as an ordinary brick but took only half the time to assemble them together. But that was all in the past. The Jewel of Radiance is now gone and we, the last remaining from the clan, have vowed to reclaim back what was originally ours."_

_"Who stole it, papa?"_

_"I don't know, my little Anne. Some say that the Harlienne clan was envious of our beloved heirloom that they had ordered Archeria to find a loophole within the temple; and thus steal the jewel. Others say that it was the work of the Dark Lord, who fear that the shining radiance from that jewel would throw him down one day. Either way, it is hard to tell."_

_"Dark Lord? Who is he, papa?"_

_"Dark Lord...he is a villian born from evil and hatred harboured deep in the prisons in Glast Heim. It is said that he was created by a thousand black souls and fed with hearts laden with hatred and greed. He harbours malice towards mankind, and would not hesitate to kill anyone that steps foot into his territory. Some say that he had created some of the deadliest creatures to ever set foot in Rune Midgard as well."_

_"Creatures?"_

_"Yes, creatures. Ever heard about Isis, Osiris, and the Bloodied Knight before, Trex?"_

_"Sure I have. Isis is a monster that has half the body of a human and half the body of a snake. Osiris is the ruler of the undead that sleeps within the chambers where Isis guards. And the Bloodied Knight is born when a person is consumed with vengeance. But I don't really understand what it means."_

_"It means, my boy, that you still have lots to learn. Now let me tell you a story about Isis and Osiris. Long time ago, when King Osiris was still alive-yes, Anne, Osiris was a ruler a few centuries ago; he was the ruler of the Morrocan Pyramids in fact. Anyway, King Osiris was a gentle and kind man that forbids violence in his kingdom. His wife, the beautiful Isis, was always by his side, giving her gentle support in every decision made. The Morrocan empire soon became a peaceful continent that was the apple of the eye of many competitors. Every now and then, rulers from other empires would declare war against Morroc over the silliest excuses immaginable. Well, King Osiris was not one to fight, so he merely combined his powers with his wife and created some sort of life shield that could not be penetrated by evil._

_"Now Dark Lord had heard about this and was soon hatching evil plans to overthrow the peaceful city. Since he knew that he could not infiltrate in, he chose a different method to commit his evils. He became the people's evil conscience, whispering poisonous words into their ears and creating chaos wherever he go. You see, children, Dark Lord might have been powerful, but he was nowhere as powerful as King Osiris had been. He knew he could never break down the life shield Osiris had regenerated, so he gave a small portion of his dark soul to the many people in Morroc. He knew at least that way, the peaceful city would no longer be, well, peaceful."_

_"But papa, how did he do that? I thought the life shield can block all evil."_

_"Ah, leave it to you to find that out by yourself, Trex. Well, it is true that the life shield blocks all evil, but King Osiris had made a grave mistake when creating it. Because he had trusted his fellow people too much, he failed to see that evil could come in the form of his own people. In other words, he had created the shield to protect his people from outsiders with evil intentions, but he did not foresee his own people succumbing into evil. And that, Trex, overthrew him."_

_"You mean King Osiris was killed by his own people?"_

_"Well, in a way, that could be true."_

_"In a way? Aw papa, you mean you don't know?"_

_"Unfortunately, no one knew what really happened that day. Legend has it that Dark Lord used the people to rake his gains. Then again, perhaps it was Dark Lord himself that had King Osiris killed. Either way, the great ruler fell and Morroc City soon became ruins."_

_"That's it? But Morroc City is still kicking alive, papa!"_

_"Ho ho ho, yes, I know that, Anne. I haven't finished my story yet, my little bubble. Now where was I...oh right! Now when King Osiris had fallen, his queen, Isis, had wept over his death and mourned over the chaotic city. Because her love for her husband as well as her city was so great, she sacrificed herself to her people. But right before she did that, she got all her handmaidens to preserve her beloved husband's body inside a tomb, where she herself casted a few protection spells on it. Then she went to the balcony that faced her people and summoned up her remaining strength to purge the evil that was seeding inside the hearts of her people. Again, guessworks were done on what happened next. Some say that her good will opened the eyes of the Morrocan citizens, while others claimed that she relieved them from their black souls by purging them once and for all. Either way, the Morrocan empire mourned at the loss of their beloved king and queen. They soon built a new pyramid and placed King Osiris's tomb deep inside, with her beloved wife right beside her. But an odd thing happened as soon as Queen Isis's body touched the solid ground. Her body rose high into the air and a bright light engulfed her. Before anyone knew what was happening, their beloved queen had half the body of a snake and was snarling viciously at them. Her eyes had turned bloodred and a permanent snarl marred her angelic face. All in all, she had become a monster. The people were confused. What happened to their queen?"_

_"That was then when Dark Lord had finally appeared. He laughed evilly and told them that he had transformed their beloved queen into a creature so vile and evil that no one would cheris her anymore. To make things worse, he cast a spell on Isis that would multiply her at every minute, so that she never fails to roam the pyramids, seeking fresh blood to kill. Angered, the people tried to attack Dark Lord, only to end up being butchered halfway through. Then suddenly, the tomb that held their king burst open. A mummified hand appeared slowly, followed by a body that was fully covered in bandages. On his head held the proud crown of Morroc; it was King Osiris. The king rose from his tomb and gave a long chilly moan. Then he ambled towards Dark Lord and casted a spell of banishment on him. The Dark Lord, too surprised to react, was banished straight into the deepest dungeons of Glast Heim, where the undead were never at rest. Osiris then turned to his people and gave them all a bow before returning back into his tomb. Stunned, the people could only stare and gape at the miraculous incident. Then they realised that the Isis were no longer trying to attack them, but remained by the side of King Osiris's tomb. Then realization dawned them; Isis was protecting her husband's decease. And so it remains until today that it is forbidden to set foot into the ruins of Morrocan Pyramids, where the great King Osiris sleeps, unless you have a dying wish that is."_

_"Wow..."_

_"But papa, I still don't get it. How did Morroc survive?"_

_"Ah, Trex, right after they left the pyramids, the people decided this time that it was their turn to show their deepest gratitude to their former ruler by rebuilding the glorious city. _That_ was how Morroc City became, well, Morroc City."_

"Anne? What are you doing?"

Startled from her reverie, she whirled around. Glaring at her twin, she replied, "Doing what mum used to tell us to do when we're in a jam; listen to Mother Nature! And don't scare me like that!"

Astrexil grinned. His sister was always an easy target to spook. Then he sobered. "Good thinking, Anne. We definitely need to clear our senses and figure out a way out of this mess!" Anexia nodded her head. Then she spied something behind him and narrowed her eyes. Suprised, Astrexil craned his neck to look what had bother her twin sister. Unsurprisingly, he saw nothing but the rock wall that had split up their party. He sighed. Detection was definitely not his forté.

"What do you see, sis?"

Anexia walked wonderingly towards the wall and placed her palm on it gently. "It's not smooth anymore," she said softly. The priest blinked. Not smooth? Since when does rock walls feel smooth? He voiced out his last statement aloud. Frowning, Anexia turned around and said in an annoyed voice, "Open your eyes, o' brother of mine! This wall was initially smooth and slippery. Why else do you think no one could climb it? And why do you think I did not even bother to suggest climbing up this pile of earth in the first place? This wall has changed all right, but the question is, why?" She finished her last sentence thoughtfully.

Now given food for thought, her twin brother too pondered at this odd result. "Do you think," he said slowly, "do you think that whoever that had created this massive rock has already been killed?"

Startled, Anexia stared at her brother. "Ye-es," she too said slowly, "that could be it. Or..."

"Or what?"

"Or...perhaps that sorcerer who created this havoc had already gotten what he came for."

They both stared at each other, both pairs of ice blue eyes reflected horror and dismay.


End file.
